# Index.dat removal



## NICK G (Sep 11, 2006)

5 years late as I read the 2007 posts but this still works for me as CCleaner or other removal tools still just don't cut it.
Windows 7 reboot, F8, boot to Administrator cmd.exe. 
At the C:\ prompt type attrib -r -a -s -h index.dat /s
Wait for it to complete and then type at the C:\ prompt del index.dat /s
When completed reboot.
Now any index.dat file you can find will be empty. Naturally they will rebuild as you surf again.
It would be easy to create a bat file to do this but I only do it occasionally. 
Now you can use CCleaner or Eraser or others to wipe free space.
No need to argue my points here as I've been doing this a very long time.
I'm quite retired now but still fix computers for friends. Mostly get rid of spyware, trojans and viruses. Still do networking probs also.

(This was something to do while I ate my lunch after 3 hours of playing tennis.):up: 90+ degrees in The Sunshine State.


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Seems like the hard way to do things. The Index.dat Suite does it automatically and spares the ones that will incapacitate functions of the machine if removed.

They are also easily removed from the recovery environment or most any boot CD (so long as you are careful and know which ones are safe to delete - not all of them are).


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## NICK G (Sep 11, 2006)

Well, I was pretty sure something new has come out in last few years but I googled a little and didn't find one and I 
don't pay for diagnostic or supportive and scanning tools. All my testing tools are open source.
I'm an old soldier in war and electronics so while my ways seem complicated to you, it's piece of cake for me.
As for deleting any needed index.dat files, doesn't happen. Once deleted they rebuild on reboot but are just empty.

Did you know, of course you did, Google was created from the word Googol which is 1X10 to the 100 power.
A googolplex is 1X10 to the googol or 10^{(10^{100})} and so on and so on. The name may have been meant to be googol
but it was spelled wrong. Other interpretations may apply. I love big numbers bur love smaller numbers better as in 
the quantum field. Know how to describe how large a trillion dollars is? Stand a dollar bill end to end and it will reach the 
moon and back.....200 times. :up: Cha-Ching. 

Only 55% of all Americans know that the Sun is a star and 5 out of 4 Americans can't do fractions. Pitiful, huh?

Love tech tips and tricks.


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## Squashman (Apr 4, 2003)

NICK G said:


> Well, I was pretty sure something new has come out in last few years


Index.dat suite has been out more than a few years. Pretty sure I remember using it at least since Windows XP came out.


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## NICK G (Sep 11, 2006)

Have a link to Index.dat Suite that works for Windows 7? My searches are negative for Vista/Windows 7.
The programmer installed a warning and disabled Windows 7 index.dat deletion due to reboot BSODs.
It's my way or the highway unless one can get me to another way............that works any better than mine.
Most don't give a crap about these files but it's G&G (grins and giggles) for me and a Tech Tip & Trick for others.
I have nothing to hide on my puter and have completely screwed it up doing stuff like this but IT'S FUN AND I LOVE IT.
I have an advantage over many people in that I actually have recent restore backups of my complete system.
Thanks.


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