All those nifty programs will not do it! I had an index.dat file weighing in at a whopping 5.5 MB(!) in the directory: C:\WINDOWS\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files. I tried 3 of the programs and they all failed to get this one. They erased the one in the cookies directory, and in history, etc...I tried booting to DOS, but the index.dat files were not visible there. Solution: 1. Make all files visible in Windows 2. Navigate to C:\WINDOWS\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files 3. RENAME it to C:\WINDOWS\Vocal Settings\Temporary Internet Files (Vocal can be any name of your choice!!) 4. Windows warns that renaming "could make some programs not function, blah, blah, blah..." Do it anyway. 5. Go surf some, open and close this and that, until windows knows it is lying and bluffing 6. Using "Find files", make a search of your copmputer for "index.dat". There will now be two besides the usual ones: the OLD one in "Vocal Settings" directory, and a brand new, small one in "Local Settings". Windows has just recreated the renamed file!! 7. Delete the entire "Vocal Settings" directory, and you have a clean machine. Bill Gates, why, man, why?

HAHAHA 5.5MB!? MINE WAS 15MB! (Shows how much surfin' I do huh?) One program I found actualy DOES work and deletes the index.dat files in Complete Internet Cleaner Pro. Its $30 but you can download a free trial and use it like 15 times I think. You can download it here: http://www.pcmesh.com/? Or type it into google.com and it will find a few other sites to download it at. It works pretty good and is easy to use, I recommend it. P.S. Its not even 1mb in size so us 56k people wont have to wait forever for it to download.

in dos, go to the folder with index.dat in it, then type this: c:\windows\command\attrib -h -a -r -s This way index.dat will be visible and deletable. (The attrib command clears the hidden, archive, read only and the system attributes of any file in the directory it is executed in.

Ding, that only remove the attributes in windows\command. You may as well delete the entire temporary internet file folder. Window will rebuild it on your next boot. Exit to dos and at the c:\windows> prompt type: deltree local~1\tempor~1 and enter (I'm pretty sure the dos name for 'local settings' is local~1. If that doesn't delete it, it may be locals~1. Post back.) This removes your temporary internet files and index.dat. On your next boot index.dat will be recreated in the temporary internet file folder but it'll be alot smaller.

The reason DOS couldn't find it (apart from the attributes) is because it isn't where Windows Explorer says it is really .... Type winfile in the Run box and you will find where all this stuff actually resides. Derek

I just reread your post and see that you are offering a solution (although somewhat complicated) to the problem rather than asking for advice on how to remove the file. Good job.

You will also require a start up (boot) disk to use with this free program..... http://www.burzurq.com/forum/delindex.html