Index.dat Files

Here I go again sticking my nose in other folks business:

1) What is an Index.dat file??

2) AFAIK    ??????????????

Thank You.

Jeff

CCleaner does it correctly in my XP and Windows 7 systems, so I presume it will in Vista also.

AFAIK, you don't have to unhide the system files.

Thank You Very Much.

Jeff

1.   From Wikipedia:  I guess there are other ways to do it, but CCleaner seems to work well.

"The index.dat file is a database file. It is a repository of information such as web URLs, search queries and recently opened files. Its purpose is to enable quick access to data used by Internet Explorer. For example, every web address visited is stored in the index.dat file, allowing Internet Explorer to quickly find Autocomplete matches as the user types a web address. The index.dat file is user-specfic and is open as long a user is logged on in Windows. Separate index.dat files exist for the Internet Explorer history, cache, and cookies.
The index.dat file is never resized or deleted. A large index.dat file can impair performance"

2.   AFAIK = As Far As I Know

A little more history and info on these index.dat files, in this admittedly somewhat dated article:
http://mysteryfcm.co.uk/?mode=Articles&date=01-11-2005

In short, they are at least a potential privacy threat, in that they log your surfing history on the sly, and are not deleted by any MS  browser cleaning utilities. I once used the third party "Index.dat Suite" utility mentioned in the above link to delete these files, but have long since abandoned it for CCleaner, which I believe does a better job. (Index.dat Suite is still useful if you want to see, for example, where your kids have been surfing).

My own theory is that these files were created by MS to aid police in forensic computer analysis.