How to Clean Your PC History

Your PC keeps a copy of all activities conducted on it in a hidden file known as the index.dat file. This file records your recent document history, search history, url history and more. Even when you delete your Internet history, a backup copy of it is stored in the index.dat file. If you truly want to clean your PC history you have delete the index.dat file. You can't delete it from the account upon which it's stored though because you will receive an error message. The solution is to simply create an alternate administrative user account, which will allow you to delete the index.dat file on other user accounts.

Instructions

1. Make an alternate administrative user account on your computer. Click "Start," click "My Computer" and click "Control Panel." Then click "User Accounts" and "Create New Account." Name your new user account and click the bubble to grant it "Administrative Rights."

2. Log off of your current user account, and then log back onto your computer with your newly created user account.

3. Click "Start," and click "Search." Click on "Tools" from the horizontal menu bar at the top of the search window, and then click "Folder Options" and then the "View" tab. Click the bubble next to "Show hidden files and folders," and uncheck the checkmarks next to "Hide extensions for known file types" and "Hide protected operating system files (recommended)." Click "Apply" to apply your new options, and then click "OK" to return to the search window.

4. Set your search to look in "All Files and Folders" in the "C Drive," and then input "index.dat" into the search bar and click "Search."

5. Click on an index.dat file from the search results pane to select it, and then press the "Delete" (Del) key to delete it.

Tips & Warnings

• Hold down the "Control" (Ctrl) key to select more than one index.dat file at time so you can delete them all at once.

• Restore your default folder options when you're done to prevent important files from becoming damaged. Simply click the "Restore" button from the "View" tab of the "Folder Options" window.

References

• Filetonic: How to delete Index.dat file