If you think that erasing your internet files with a program protects you...think again.

Actually I'm not sure if information is saved as a .dat file if you're using that.

I would be interested in knowing for sure though if you find anything.

what are you trying to hide? that's the real question.

The best way to kill a hard-drive is old-fashioned but effective. Take the drive and unscrew the screws holding it together. Take off the magnets and give them to the kids to play with as they are very powerful. Take the round CD-like disc drive and place it in a fire in your pit or fireplace. Or put it beneath a boat motor recovery magnet for a few hours. Or put it in a microwave oven for about 5 seconds on high. Or take it out to the nearest reservoir and frisbee it into the depths. There is no way to kill it completely otherwise. Just sayin...

Good stuff OP. I use ccleaner and firefox and because of this thread I got freeware index spy dat and found nothing but what I looked up since opening browser. did find it odd that windows keeps record of what files you opened heh. I was editing resume earlier and that popped up on a dat file.

what are you trying to hide? that's the real question.

No that is not the real question. You don't have to be hiding a thing just because you don't want to be monitored or tracked without even knowing it. The more info I can control, the better. And if I can, I will. Simple as that.

Or more specifically, how it details your information in your .dat file if it is saved to your hard drive.

Can't hurt to check with a viewer, it only takes a few minutes.

VPN is just the tunnel. All the info is still collected on the machine.

I just stopped using my pc.

Use puppy linux from a dvd or usb thumb drive. It loads completely into ram. Everything you do is in ram, you can even remove the usb thumb drive after it loads. Your windows os is never booted. never use internet explorer for surfing. MS has built in hooks for LE.

As we all know internet privacy is a very important topic.

Everything you do online is stored in various directories on your hard drive, but using eraser programs like Ccleaner and Window Washer doesn't erase them completely.

There are hidden folders on your computer that store every URL you have visited, every picture you have viewed and every download you have saved, to your computer's hard drive and cannot be accessed to delete without a specific program.

This folder is called index.dat.

If you don't believe me, type these various file paths into your search bar in the start menu and find out for yourself.

If you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista then index.dat files are in these locations (note that on your PC they can be on other drive instead of drive C):

C:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\index.d​at
C:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\Low\ind​ex.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.I​E5\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.I​E5\Low\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.I​E5\index.dat\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.I​E5\Low\index.dat\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\Low\index.dat
------------------------------------------

If you have Windows XP or Windows 2000 then index.dat files are in these locations (note that on your PC they can be on other drive instead of drive C):

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Cookies\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\UserData\index.dat
----------------------------------

If you have Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 95 then index.dat files are in these locations:
C:\Windows\Cookies\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat (XXXX are some digits)
C:\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\History.IE5\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index​.dat
C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\index.dat (only in Internet Explorer 4.x)
C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Windows\UserData\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\Cookies\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\History\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\History\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​XX\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\History\History.IE5\index.dat
​
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\History\History.IE5\MSHistXXXX​XXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\Temporary Internet Files\index.dat (only in IE 4.x)
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\UserData\index.dat

Doesn't work does it? You can even set your settings to show hidden folders and they still will not allow access.

I have Windows 7 and I know for a fact that all index.dat files are locked from viewing and deleting.

I cannot speak as to what other operating systems do but go ahead and try it anyway. Even if they allow access they will not allow you to just drag them to your recycle bin because they are always being used by your computer.

Today I will show you to not only access and view evrything permanently stored on your computer, but also how to delete all traces of internet activity FOREVER.

Please be patient, I will be adding links to index.dat viewers as well as erasers.

The rest is up to you.

mac ?

As we all know internet privacy is a very important topic.

Everything you do online is stored in various directories on your hard drive, but using eraser programs like Ccleaner and Window Washer doesn't erase them completely.

There are hidden folders on your computer that store every URL you have visited, every picture you have viewed and every download you have saved, to your computer's hard drive and cannot be accessed to delete without a specific program.

This folder is called index.dat.

If you don't believe me, type these various file paths into your search bar in the start menu and find out for yourself.

If you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista then index.dat files are in these locations (note that on your PC they can be on other drive instead of drive C):

C:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\index.d​at
C:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\Low\ind​ex.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.I​E5\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.I​E5\Low\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.I​E5\index.dat\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.I​E5\Low\index.dat\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\index.dat
C:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\Low\index.dat
------------------------------------------

If you have Windows XP or Windows 2000 then index.dat files are in these locations (note that on your PC they can be on other drive instead of drive C):

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Cookies\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\UserData\index.dat
----------------------------------

If you have Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 95 then index.dat files are in these locations:
C:\Windows\Cookies\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat (XXXX are some digits)
C:\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\History.IE5\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index​.dat
C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\index.dat (only in Internet Explorer 4.x)
C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Windows\UserData\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\Cookies\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\History\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\History\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​XX\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\History\History.IE5\index.dat
​
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\History\History.IE5\MSHistXXXX​XXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\Temporary Internet Files\index.dat (only in IE 4.x)
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\UserData\index.dat

Doesn't work does it? You can even set your settings to show hidden folders and they still will not allow access.

I have Windows 7 and I know for a fact that all index.dat files are locked from viewing and deleting.

I cannot speak as to what other operating systems do but go ahead and try it anyway. Even if they allow access they will not allow you to just drag them to your recycle bin because they are always being used by your computer.

Today I will show you to not only access and view evrything permanently stored on your computer, but also how to delete all traces of internet activity FOREVER.

Please be patient, I will be adding links to index.dat viewers as well as erasers.

The rest is up to you.

Can u not just reformat your computer? if you are really worried take a magnet to the harddrive?

Yeah, but why go through all that when you can run a program that takes minutes to complete?