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It didn't do it - I tried all of the above steps - but to no avail. The problem didn't go away unless I copied the history folder over from the new user I created - then it worked fine keeping all of my history that was already there and adding to it each day. No - I didn't install any other software programs before the history "disappeared" - It happened right after I installed and ran CCleaner the first time. Here's what I've discovered. My history folder (with all of my history in it) as well as the Cookies folder were still located in my Local Settings\Temp folder (a carryover from IE6 maybe???). I looked at the settings in IE7 and they're supposed to be in the Local Settings folder (cookies in teh Temporary Internet Files folder. Ran CCleaner and it confirms that the history. index. dat and desktop.ini files are where they are supposed to be - but they are apparently blank. Checked the registry settings - they are consisient with CCleaner's analysis. So that explains why I could copy the History folder from another user and get my old history back - it must somehow "point" to the other folder. I was unable to find any reference to that anywhere in my registry - but still that's where it's located. So what happened? Not sure - somehow no matter what I did my history would remain in that subfolder of the Local Settings\Temp folder. I finally gave up on trying to diagnose this any further. I removed IE7 - which wasn't easy - it couldn't be removed from Add/Remove Programs - so I had to do it with the Recovery Console. Then I did a repair installation of XP using the slipstreamed SP3 disc I created when I upgraded to SP3 . After that I did a new installation of IE7 - and eveything now works as it should now. History can be seen in IE7 - it's located in the proper folder - and all is well. Time spent trying to diagnose the problem - many days and hours... Time spent removing IE7 & reinstalling XP - less than 2 hours.... A drastic measure that I really didn't want to do at all in case ti screwed some other programs up- but it was worth it sine it solved the problem and everything else seems to be working as it should. The only thing I had to do after the repair install was delete and reinstall my Norton Internet Security 2008 and do a bunch of updates for that. Every other program that I've tried seems to be working normally so far..... So - did CCleaner cause the problem? Most likely not - BUT there was something in there that was making the history work properly even though it was in the wrong location - and I'd say that CCleaner probably took out something in one of the index.dat files (or the registry) that made it all happen. Not a mistake by the CCleaner program - but it changed the settings on my particular computer so that it didn't work right. Now everything seems to be where it should be and is working fine. At least so far....... Seems like this might be a fairly common problem based on the number of view this post has had so far....

I've tired everything you both have suggested and so far it hasn't made any difference. I'll give this suggestion a try and let you know if it works or not. When I copy the history folder from another user, I'm not actually copying that history - just the folder that then makes my history appear. I still have all of my history and it re-appears after I do this. I guess it's just the folder that reads your history and allows it to appear. We'll see what happens.....

I had also found that post on the Internet sometime last week after I first ran CCleaner and found out the history was msising. I tried that but it didn't do anything - I think it may only apply to Vista. Either way - it didn't make any difference - after a re-boot it disappeared again. Also looked at my boot.ini file - it's dated 12/7/2006 so it hasn't changed in nearly 2 years. That's for all users so if there was something in the computer startup it would affect all users, right? If I start up and log into my "New" user that I created - history works fine no matter how many times I log off or on or reboot. It's only with when I start up and log in with my own name first. And once it's "fixed" by copying the history folder from the new user - my history is back in full for the past 4 days. So the actual history itself never disappears - and it keeps getting added to every website I visit. When the computer re-boots is when it disappears in IE7 - but I get it back complete for the past 4 days as soon as I delete that history folder and copy one from the new user.

Hello Davey, Thanks for the input. I've checked Norton settings - nothing there to set regarding my history. It's still there - it's just hidden from view somehow. I also have run Msconfig - and the "normal" was already checked - but I unchecked it and then checked it again. Still no history appears. No - no one is "borrowing" my PC and deleting the history. As I've explained in an earlier post - the history is still there - I just have to delele the exisitng history folder which is somehow altered on bootup - then copy the hostory folder from another user (I've created a new user just for this purpose) and then the history appears as it should. All is fine until I reboot the computer - then it disappears again. My "new user" account always shows the history - so it has to be something that was changed in the registry when I ran CCleaner the first time that is causing this to happen. I don''t have CCleaner set to run all the time - just when I manually run it. The history is still there - I just have to delete the History folder - copy it from another user - and it then re-appears normally.

I'm definitely free of all computer problems - I run Norton Internet Security 2008, Spybot Search & Destroy, and am completely up to date on all spyware, malware, etc. updates. Plus I often do manual scans. I did download the anti-malware application you suggested - it found no problems whatsoever after a 10 minutes scan. WHen I first boot the computer and log in as the "NEW" user that I created - when I check the HIstory folder under My name in Local Settings - it's fine - looks just as it should. Now when I log off and log in under my name, the history folder changes. Once I delete that folder and copy the history folder (the one with the "clock" on it) from my "NEW" Local Settings folder - it works fine and my history is there for the past several days. Logging off and on has no affect on this History folder, it only seems to change on a reboot of the computer. The event viewer doesn't indicate any problems - the only thing it sees as a was the installation of the system files created by the installation of the malware program. Back to the drawing board I guess.......

I uninstalled all of the MS .NET Frameworks and then re-installed them all - like you I now have 1.1, 2.0 and also 3.5 and am not sure if I should uninstall the earlier versions so I've left them all there too. I think there are some programs that run using each one, but I'm not sure....... I have XP SP3 as well. History is still not showing - the only way I've been able to see my history is to create a new user account - log onto that new account - delete the History folder in my Local Settngs and then copy the History folder from the new account back to my Local Settings. When I log back onto my account the History is all there as it should be and everyting works fine. But every time I re-boot the computer - the History is gone again. The folder changes from the one with the "clock" on it that back to a regular folder after rebotting and the History is once again blank until I go back and do the procedure I described above. Something is still changing that History folder when I reboot..... It's still a mystery.......

Did all that you suggested - still no history. Here's where it gets interesting. I got it back yesterday after unregistering and re-registering the Windows installer - it came back with 3 days of history showing. My histroy isn't gone - it's just being hidden somehow. It was there all day - and today when I booted the computer it's blank again. Just did the same thing to the installer - and it reappears. The rpoblem seems to be related to the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 - it places a folder called "Apps\2.0\etc." in my Local Setting folder. When I delete that - the history reappears. When I reboot - the Apps folder regenerates itself and the history is blank again. I'm going to delete the .NET framwork 2.0 (keeping the 1.1 since there are a couple of programs I use that it's needed for) and see what happens after that. This is maddening - it's there and then it's gone again.....

Here's more information that may or may not help. I just installed Super WinSpy so I could check the contents of the index.dat file in my C:\Documents and Settings\myname\Local Settings file. Every website I've visited since I deleted the History folder (as explained in the previous message) is there - it's just not showing in the history window - seems to be hidden somehow from IE7. I just uninstalled CCleaner and then re-booted to see if that made any difference - still no history appears. Does CCleaner somwhow change the location of the history? My registry entry still says the history is in C:\Documents and Settings\myname\Local Settings\History....

Thanks for the help - but it didn't work. I unchecked the History box and ran CCleaner again, but the history window is completely blank. It shows nothing - not even the "Today" that usually appears. I've even deleted the History folder in my C:\Documents and settings\myname\local settings and then allowed IE7 to automatically re-generate that folder the next time it's opened, but it's still blank after doing that. Something seems to be hiding the appearance of the history. Favorites show fine in the window, but no history. I don't care about previous history - I'd just like the current history to be there. I only have my settings to keep 2 days of history anyway.

I download CCleaner.exe and used it successfully - Great program! However, now no matter what I do IE7 history no longer is visible at all - the panel is BLANK. I'm using XP Home SP3. It worked as it should before I ran CCleaner, so I know that's what made it blank. I've tried registry changes, created a new user, etc. Is there something I should be doing with CCleaner - or is there something I need to check (or uncheck) to make the IE7 browsing history appear? I really need it to go back to webpages I recently visited. Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?