How to Check a Computer's History After Someone Deletes It
When someone deletes your computer’s history, oftentimes it makes you instantly suspicious of what he was doing on your computer. If your curiosity gets the best of you and you want to check a computer’s history after someone deletes it, you’re in luck because your computer keeps a backup copy of all deleted history on it in a file known as the index.dat file. Checking deleted history simply consists of finding the index.dat file and opening it with the appropriate software.
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Instructions
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Click “Start,” and click “Search.”
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Click “Tools” from the horizontal menu bar at the top of the “Search” window. Scroll to and click on "Folder Options." Click on the “View” tab.
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Click the bubble next to “Show hidden files and folders.” Uncheck the checkmarks next to “Hide extensions for known file types” and “Hide protected operating system files.”
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Click “Apply” to apply the folder changes, and click “OK” to exit the “Folder Options” window and return to the “Search” window.
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Click on “All Files and Folders” in the “C Drive” to set your search parameters. Type “index.dat” into the search bar, and click the “Search” button.
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Download and install a ".dat" file reader to your computer if you don’t already have one.
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Open the index.dat file within the ".dat" file reader to check the computer’s history.
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Tips & Warnings
Your computer might contain more than one index.dat file on it.
Beware of leaving your folder options set to show hidden files and folders. Restore default folder options when you are done in the following manner: click “Restore Defaults” from within the “View” tab of the “Folder Options” window.
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