Where are Index.dat files located?

http://www.milincorporated.com/a2_index.dat.html

 

Where are Index.dat files located?

In many cases you can not see or find an index.dat file using Windows Explorer. There is a little text file called desktop.iniin each directory where index.dat file is located. This file forces Windows Explorer to hide the index.dat files and to show the contents of Internet cache or history instead. However you can use some other file utilities and binary (hex) editor to find the files and view their content. The location of index.dat files depends on the version of Windows:

For Windows 7 and Windows Vista:

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.dat
C:\Users\ <username>\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\Low\index.dat
C:\Users\ <username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat
C:\Users\ <username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\Low\index.dat
C:\Users\ <username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat\MSHist XXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Users\ <username>\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\Low\index.dat\MSHist XXXXXXXXXXX\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

For Windows XP and Windows 2000:

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\MSHist XXXXXXXXXXX\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 only one user account on Windows XP or Windows 2000 then replace <username> with Administrator to get the paths of all index.dat files.

For Windows Me, 98, 95 or Windows NT:

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\MSHist XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat                  (XXXX are some digits)
C:\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\History.IE5\MSHist XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\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\MSHist XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\ <username>\History\History.IE5\index.dat
C:\Windows\Profiles\ <username>\History\History.IE5\MSHist XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\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

Note that on your computer the Windows directory may not be C:\Windows but some other directory. If you don't haveProfiles directory in you Windows directory don't worry - this just means that you are not using user profiles. It is also possible that you don't have UserData subdirectories. To learn more about UserData records click here.

You can use Mil Shield to clean the content of index.dat files along with history, cookies, cache and many other tracks.