Like many PC users, I use CCleaner. For years, it's been part of my maintenance toolbox for fast, safe, and efficient cleaning. Also, the utility is updated regularly; I always run the latest version. So I was surprised when I found that CCleaner wasn't cleaning out all the .dat files on my system. You know, those hard-to-access files which record your Internet surfing habits. There's a default check to expunge .dat files on the CCleaner GUI. I've always left it checked. Here's what happened. For the hell of it, after general maintenance the other day, I ran Spider 1.16. For those not familiar with this old utility, it was written in 1999 by Ward van Wanrooij to clean .dat files in Win 9x and Win NT4.x. And, of course, it's always works well and thoroughly with XP. I just hadn't bothered to use it for a few years, thinking that CCleaner was getting the job done. Nope. After running CCleaner and rebooting, Spider 1.16 found over a hundred URLs that I'd recently visited. I did this over a period of surfing days, then ran CCleaner, rebooted, then ran Spider 1.16. In every case, there were URLs that CCleaner had missed. To be fair, CCleaner deleted around 75% of what had been in the .dat files - but not everything. For those wanting to keep their surfing habits private, this is something less than acceptable. For my own part, I'm single and accountable to no one. I couldn't care less if someone finds out where I've been on the Net. I just want useless files (bloat) removed from my system. For those concerned with their surfing habits, however, you might consider running Spider 1.16. You'll have to do a Google search, then go through the hits. IronMan

Found the same after running Spider. Lots of undeleted URLs in the .dat files where I'd been surfing. To find Spider, I had to go through 5-year's worth of my CD archives. Spider's a dinosaur, but it still kicks butt. Thanks for the heads up.

Hell, I went from ME to Vista. I had programs to deal with the index dat files before. Now I'm not so sure. So much of what is supposed to be Vista capable is not. Spider was not written for XP so it likely won't deal with Vista at all. But it sure did the job on older systems. It didn't shred but it did delete. I do remember that you could navigate in Explore to the index dat directory and manually delete the files. Sure you would get a warning but it was safe to do even with XP. Windows would re-create an empty folder on reboot with a new random name. I don't have access to XP or Me anymore but I think it might be in C>Windows>Temporary Internt Files>Content IE. Hope that helps. But as far as secure file deletion in Vista I'm clueless. So stay with your supported XP as long as you can. I too liked Spider but I don't think I can use it anymore. Besides I want to find a shredder not just a delete. RandyL

Index.dat isn't the only storehouse of visited URLS. Windows and installed program sometimes tend to store the info someplace else. Now you know why the cops haul away PCs used in criminal activities. They always find what you thought you deleted. To really rid the HD of every URLs you need to replace it with a new HD & shredder the old one. i_XpUser

Ironman, How about comparing Delindex with Spider, I'd like to know which one comes out on top.

Sabertooth, interested by your suggestion, I went to the Delindex website to download the utility. Found this: Delindex does not work in Windows XP/NT/2000. XpUser, yes, the only absolutely sure way to rid a hard drive of something you don't want found is to replace it and destroy the old one. But forensic analysis wasn't why I started this thread. The reason was to alert users that their surfing habits might be discovered by more casual examination, and to get rid of useless files. IronMan

http://www.stevengould.org/software...