index.dat (WXP-Pro)

[foamgod]

What does the index.dat file in IE do?

And what would deleting it affect? Thanks!

[report_2]

It alledgedly allows you to load pages, that you have previously visited, faster.

Deleting it has no adverse effects. I delete mine weekly before running Defrag.

To delete index.dat in WinXP is not as easy as it is in Win98. In Win98 is can be done in DOS.

<a target="_blank" href=http://www.winguides.com/forums/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=brdQuestions&Number=70335&page=&view=&sb=>http://www.winguides.com/forums/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=brdQuestions&Number=70335&page=&view=&sb=</a> for information to delete it in WinXP.

It is a long thread.

[foamgod]

Ahh.. just want to confirm my suspicion...

I just download CCleaner from download.com and it's quite good. Better than the free version of the internet eraser I am using (I think). This program allows me to delete the index.dat and after I ran the program, surfing seems to get a bit slower. I am suspecting this to be the cause which you have confirmed.

Any idea what exactly is contained in the index.dat? What else would make surfing faster apart from history & temp files, and if there is a way we can "read" the content? Thanks!

[report_2]

You can make a copy of the index.dat file by copying it to your desktop. You can then use QuickView to view it's contents.
It basically contains all of the visited URLs.

It provides an indexing service, so to speak.

Following was exerpted from an unrelated MS article.

"Index.dat is the Internet Explorer cache index file. It facilitates the browser cache mechanism that speeds access to frequently accessed web pages across different browser processes in the same user context."

IE Tools, Internet Options, General tab, Temporary Internet Files section hit the Settings button to make sure that your folder size is large enough to accomodate your needs.
Most folks state that 10MB is the right size. I use 60MB myself.

Are you on cable, DSL or dial up?
There are settings that can be optimized in the tweak sections of this website.
See <a target="_blank" href=http://www.winguides.com/registry/category.php/32/>http://www.winguides.com/registry/category.php/32/</a>

[foamgod]

Ah... thanks for the info pal... how is this different from the "temp internet files"?

[report_2]

Temp Internet Files (TIF) are the files that were downloaded to your hard drive from the sites you visit.
These are very useful when hitting the Back button.

They would also be useful for pages that never change. They would load faster because you already have the files.
Unfortunately, no sites that I visit regularly remain the same and I am on a cable connection so I have mine emptied upon exiting my browser.

Just for the fun of it and since you are asking this very question I am going to let my TIF folder remain just to see if it makes a difference over the next couple of days. I had done this a few years ago and found no value in doing so but I need to reinforce that finding now.

[report_2]

Maybe I don't need to try it for a few days.
I just changed the setting so that it keeps my TIF.

Before closing my browser I found 256 items stored in the TIF folder.

I closed my browser and then revisited the same 6 webpages I had visited before closing my browser for which the files were already stored in my TIF folder.

Now I see 336 files in the TIF folder and do not see any speed gains at all.

I will now change it back to empty the TIF when the browser is closed from within IE Tools, Internet Options, Advanced and under the Security section.

Maybe it helps if one is using a dial up connection. This very page is only 28.5Kb in size and my cable is working at an average of 600Kb+ per second surfing speed and rated at over 3Mb per second.
At 600Kb per second this page loads in 0.0475 seconds (theorectically and expensively).

[foamgod]

Hi, my PC is on a cable connection too. I think the temp files act like a cache of sorts (that's why I am asking what's the difference between this and the index.dat)... what it does is that if you have them residing on your PC already, they will not fetch the data again - so if the sites are down, you still can have the information. This also means that you would need to press refresh should you require the latest data. History just keeps an index/directory of the sites you have visited.

This is my understanding.. so back to my original question, how does index.dat come in? * puzzled *

[report_2]

I am not an expert when it comes to the index.dat but like any indexing service it alledgedly speeds up the caching but I don't think it has any relationship to the files within the TIF folder. It only indexes the URL and resolves it faster.

Like I noted. I see no difference or ill effects after deleting the index.dat on mine.

With the same respect, other then when using the back button, I see no difference in storing the files in the TIF folder either. I have my TIF setting to Automatically check for newer versions of stored pages.

[foamgod]

Oh well... thanks for spending time on this anyway! =)

[report_2]

An old MS article that may help:
<a target="_blank" href=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q178702>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q178702</a>

Quote:
Description of the Mm256.dat and Mm2048.dat Files
Article ID : 178702
Last Review : December 16, 2003
Revision : 3.0
This article was previously published under Q178702
On this Page
SUMMARY
MORE INFORMATION

SUMMARY
This article describes the Mm256.dat and Mm2048.dat files located in the Windows\Cookies and Windows\History folders.
MORE INFORMATION
The Mm256.dat and Mm2048.dat files are cache files used by Internet Explorer. When you visit a Web page, Internet Explorer assigns the Web address a unique identification number and searches the Mm256.dat and Mm2048.dat files for that identification number. If the Web page's identification number is found, the contents of the Web page are stored locally on your computer's hard disk and Internet Explorer uses the locally stored content instead of downloading the information from the Internet. If the Web page's identification number is not found, the contents of the Web page must be downloaded from the Internet. This occurs if you have not visited the Web page before, the Web page has changed, or the Web page's identification number has expired. When the Web page's content has been downloaded to the hard disk, the Mm256.dat or Mm2048.dat file is updated with the Web page's identification number.

The Mm256.dat file is used to store the identification numbers of Web pages whose Web addresses are equal to or less than 256 characters. The Mm2048.dat is used to store the identification numbers of Web pages whose Web addresses are between 257 and 2048 characters.

Note that in Internet Explorer 4.0, the Index.dat file in the Temporary Internet Files folder performs this function.
End Quote

[report_2]

<a target="_blank" href=http://www.microsoft.com/nz/presscentre/articles/2001/august-21_clarify.aspx>http://www.microsoft.com/nz/presscentre/articles/2001/august-21_clarify.aspx</a>
is maybe even better.

[foamgod]

Hmmm.. sounds like TIF....