Moderators mta Posted November 1, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 1, 2012 Just after some feedback on what are other peoples perception of the uses/reasons with the INDEX.DAT file. I was under the impression it is used mainly(if not solely) by Internet Explorer to record the usually stuff like cookies, history, searches etc. In other words, they record stuff of little importance in the grand scheme of things. Add to that, if you never use IE or care about the info these files contain, I have never found a reason not to clean them from my PC's, or knowingly suffered a disadvantage in doing so. Just wondering if I have missed some point to these files ??? Backup now & backup often.It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Fast Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Index files are simply that. Indexes (histories) of what you did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Andavari Posted November 1, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 1, 2012 The index.dat file located exactly here on Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\helpctr\OfflineCache\index.dat Will cause issues with Help and Support if it's removed. There may be other index.dat files also that aren't even related to Internet Explorer at all that could cause a system-wide problem if removed. This is on XP though, I don't know the mess that's in newer versions of Windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators mta Posted November 2, 2012 Author Moderators Share Posted November 2, 2012 @Andavari, can't say i've personally seen any issues, even in Help and Support, back when I had an XP PC. Your example maybe just limited to the offline files kept in OfflineCache. i rememeber something years ago about PCHEALTH being tied into MSINFO32, something about deleting the contents of \PCHEALTH then effecting how MSINFO32 works(or doesn't work), but I don't suffer that problem either when I delete all INDEX.DAT files. Backup now & backup often.It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Fast Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 I don't even use help & support on Windows. So I never suffer that problem! I don't believe I have had any problems on my machine in removing index.dat files, either, mta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Nergal Posted November 18, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 18, 2012 I don't even use help & support on Windows. So I never suffer that problem! I don't believe I have had any problems on my machine in removing index.dat files, either, mta. Superfast how can you state you've never had any problems directly after stating you don't use the thing they are saying problems could happen to? I've said it (to you) before, just cause you don't use something that breaks does not mean that it doesn't matter, for others, that it breaks. ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF. Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark) ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T. Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Fast Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Well, cause, I tested removal of index.dat files with no problem. Even though I don't (normally) use Windows Help, I have in time past. I don't recommend randomly deleting any old .dat files, because there are programs that use .dat extension for incomplete files & other things. But so far, had no problems when I experimented with removal of index.dat files sometime back. I currently am on W7, but I have used XP for a while. Am testing things in W7, so it may be a few months before I switch back. Have a few ideas how to tweak some things in XP that I learned from testing in 7. Time past... Errrr... I'd say, perhaps less than 4 months ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now