PurgeIE
- Purge Cache, Cookies and Tracks for Internet Explorer
Notice - the Index.dat
files were discontinued beginning with Windows 8.
AutoComplete - is the feature of Internet
Explorer that attempts to save one some keystrokes during the keying
into the URL Address field. It presumes to complete the URL based on
Visited URLs from the History INDEX.DAT file.
Cache – as used in this document, the
collection of Temporary Internet Files.
Cache INDEX.DAT data file – the file
located within the Temporary Internet Files Folder that is used to
contain URL entries for the Temporary Internet Files.
CDF – acronym for Channel Definition File.
PurgeIE takes additional steps to preserve these files.
Channel - a Web site designed to deliver
content from the Internet to your computer, similar to subscribing to
a favorite Web site. Please refer to "What is a Channel" in
the Help function within Internet Explorer for a proper understanding
of Channels.
Cookies – are small Text files that are
written to a user’s hard disk by their Web Browser. The cookies are
generated by the Web-site being visited. Some Web-sites use Cookies to
retain user selection criteria such as stock ticker symbols you
indicated to be automatically processed when you revisit the stock
quote site. Another valid example is the specification of a city to be
processed when you revisit your favorite weather Web-site.
Some Web-sites utilize Cookies to simply indicate that you have
visited the site previously and will present you with a different
Web-page that was presented on your first visit. Many people are
concerned that the use of Cookies is or can easily become an invasion
of privacy. Unfortunately, some Web-sites refuse access unless the
visitor accepts Cookies.
Cookies INDEX.DAT data file – the file
located within the Cookies Folder that is used to contain URL entries
for the Cookies Files.
History Folders – are folders that contain
History information for Web-Sites you have visited. Typically, there
is a History Folder for each day that Internet Explorer retains for
you. You indicate the number of days of History to retain via Internet
Explorer Options.
History INDEX.DAT data file – the file
located within the primary History Folder that is used to contain URL
entries for each Web-page accessed. This data is used by Internet
Explorer’s AutoComplete function. Within this document, these
entries are referred to as Visited URLs.
INDEX.DAT data files – a specially
formatted type of data file used by Internet Explorer to contain URLs
and other reference data like ‘Hits’, last access date and
pointers to associated files such as Cookies and Temporary Internet
Files. There are several of these files named INDEX.DAT on a typical
system. They should not arbitrarily be deleted as some contain
critical Offline (or Subscription) Cache information.
Non-Subscription Cache – the collection of
Temporary Internet Files (TIF) that are not from a Subscription
Web-site.
Offline Cache – the collection of
Temporary Internet Files (TIF) that were downloaded for "Offline
Viewing". Note that IE-4 referred to this as Subscription
Cache.
Online Cache – the collection of
Temporary Internet Files (TIF) other than those downloaded for
"Offline Viewing". Other portions of this document
refer to this as Non- Subscription Cache.
Protected Cookies – Cookies that have been
protected by PurgeIE’s ‘Protect’ function. Note that this
protection only prevents deletion of this Cookie by the PurgeIE Purge
function. Protected Cookies can still be deleted by other programs and
systems such as Internet Explorer.
Recent LNKs – are Links to documents,
images, etc., that were accessed by your system. These are displayed
as Icons when you press the Windows Start button and select Documents.
Note that this can include LNKs other than those generated from
Internet Explorer.
Subscription Cache – the collection of
Temporary Internet Files (TIF) that are from a Subscription Web-site
(IE-4). IE-5 refers to this as "Offline Viewing".
Strays - as used in this document, the
Cookies and Cache files that are not indexed by the their respective
INDEX.DAT data files. Temporary Internet Files can exist in the Cache
directory without being indexed by multiple causes. The primary cause
is termination of the loading of a Web-page prior to its complete
processing. The file goes into the cache but the index is not updated
to reflect its location.
Also, index items within these INDEX.DAT data files that refer to
non-existing local files are considered to be Strays and will be
deleted by the ‘Strays’ function.
Computer failures that require a reboot (without a proper Shutdown of
Windows/NT have been observed to cause a large number of Strays.
Another way that this can occur is by deletion of the Temporary
Internet Files by DOS functions. DOS has no means for updating the
INDEX.DAT data files.
Note that some utility programs delete the Temporary Internet Files
by DOS functions and do not modify the INDEX.DAT data file. This can
result in the INDEX.DAT file becoming enormous. Some have been
reported to exceed a megabyte. If this is your situation, you will
experience the deletion of a tremendous number of URL Strays the first
time you purge Strays with PurgeIE.
Temporary Internet Files - the files such as
Web pages and graphics files that are stored on your hard disk as they
are retrieved from the Internet as you view them.
TIF – acronym for Temporary Internet Files.
Typed URLs – are entries placed into the
Registry for the URLs that have been typed into the URL Address field.
UnProtected Cookies – Cookies that have not
been protected by PurgeIE’s ‘Protect’ function.
URL – Uniform Resource Locator - An
Internet Address.
Visited URLs – are URL entries that are
maintained in an INDEX.DAT file in the primary History folder. This
file contains a record of each URL you have visited. This data is used
by Internet Explorer for its AutoComplete function.
Windows Temporary files – files stored in
the Windows Temporary File folder. Typically these files are created
by Windows programs and deleted upon termination. Microsoft Word is an
example of such a program. System failures and Program failures
prevent the proper deletion of these files and the folder can waste a
great deal of disk space. Periodic cleanup is advised. Internet
Explorer also makes use of this folder and could leave ‘tracks’
there.
Assistance & Resources for Computing, Inc
Copyright © 1999-2015. All rights reserved.
Revised: August 23, 2015