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Missing CONTENT IE5 Folder ?

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by pomak249, 2005/04/14.

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  1. 2005/04/14
    pomak249

    pomak249 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi,

    Recently had to re-install XP Pro sp2 after a MoBo/CPU/Memory upgrade and ended up with 6! different user accounts under 'documents & Settings' - I deleted most of those them leaving 'default user', 'administrator' etc. I also found each one had a Temporary Internet Folder (TIF), these I deleted only leaving one in my 'user' account.

    However I can now no longer find my 'Content IE5' folder and associated 'index.dat'? I've searched the usual suspects - documents&settings/system32>config but nothing found just plain old TIF folders in each location NO content IE5 ??

    The index.dat must be around somewhere surely? I've tried a search and all folders show hidden files.

    Any ideas ?

    Mick

    PS, My thumbnail views dont show .art files - should they?
     
  2. 2005/04/14
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Hi there!

    Those accounts are there for a purpose, I don't know exactly which respective purpose but it is recommended to leave them alone. In Windows Explorer, most of them are hidden, only the "All users" account and "User Created" accounts are not hidden. (Even the default "Guest" account, which is disabled by default, should be left alone.)

    If, in Tools > Options > TIF files, the Temporary Internet Files are removed, in Windows Explorer, the TIF folder for the account "seems" completely empty but it isn't. Log out from that account and on to the "Administrator" account, then the subfolders in the TIF folder in the "Your User Name" account should appear in Windows Explorer.

    Don't ask me why it's like this ...... :eek: ...... I'm still wondering.

    Christer
     

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  4. 2005/04/14
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    The path is (with Show Hidden Files enabled) ....

    C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat

    but you will not see all of that path for the username account, i.e. your account even if it has administrative rights. You will see it for Administrator account. Why? I have as much idea as Christer :)
    Probably not - depends on what they are. AOL looks a likely candidate, see here.
     
  5. 2005/04/14
    surferdude2

    surferdude2 Inactive

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    It is a long standing mystery about the index.dat file and the content.ie5 folder. They both seem to defy logic. You cannot easily view the currently active version directly. You can do a search for them and they will show up in the results. You cannot start that search from the TIF folder itself, you must start it from a higher position in the heirarchy, such as the root of the drive.

    With rare exception, I have never found it productive to manipulate these items. Only on one occasion, when the index.dat was corrupt, did it ever show any benefit. I use CrapCleaner to delete the index.dat file in that instance and the problem was cured. The older method of deleting these items in a dos session won't work with XP's NTFS file system so that stumps lots of folks. Other attempts such as killing the Windows shell (explorer.exe) and deleting them from a command session or using a batch file are less than rewarding. Some of those methods actually seem to work but in reality the index.dat has a way of coming back in the same condition. If you monitor its size, you'll see what I mean.

    Under normal circumstances, it's best to leave that area alone. If you have security issues that make it necessary to cleanse the TIF's and all related files, there are programs designed for that purpose. Using them will save you a lot of research on a very baffling subject.

    As a rainy day time wasting example, here is are the results of two command line searches of my E: drive (that's where I keep my TIF folder):

    E:\>dir /s index.dat
    Volume in drive E is DISK2_VOL1 60gig
    Volume Serial Number is 7887-9550

    Directory of E:\TIFs\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5

    04/14/2005 08:20 AM 2,801,664 index.dat
    1 File(s) 2,801,664 bytes

    Total Files Listed:
    1 File(s) 2,801,664 bytes
    0 Dir(s) 44,683,927,552 bytes free

    E:\>dir /s content.IE5
    Volume in drive E is DISK2_VOL1 60gig
    Volume Serial Number is 7887-9550
    File Not Found

    You'll notice that the first search revealed the index.dat file as being located in the Content.IE5 folder but strangely the second search would tend to indicate that the Content.IE5 folder doesn't exist! Some fun.
     
  6. 2005/04/14
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    There is one method to view all contents of the operating system, whether BillyBoy wants us to or not:

    Create a Ghost Image of the partition, explore the image in Ghost Explorer and the mystery is revealed. Well, maybe not the mystery but all the files and folders are.

    Christer
     
  7. 2005/04/14
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    There are two issues here.
    1) Content.IE5--at least the one that contains the normally expected alphanumeric folders which contain downloaded files--now is a bit hard to find in WinXP SP2. I find it in "C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 ". If you enter that in a Windows Explorer's Address line you may be lucky and find the alphanumeric files. If that does not work, enter "C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\" and manually add "Content.IE5" to the Address line|Enter, you should get there.
    2) Index.dat--if you run a Start|Search on that you will find quite a few. I understand Index.dat contains information for the other files in the same folder to function properly. If you do not delete the other files before you delete index.dat, the info in Index.dat is "orphan ". There are lots of MS-DOS commands to delete index.dat, but I am lazy and just use
    Security Systems Suite, which I can program to delete what I want.
    http://www.igorshpak.net/
    When I use it to delete TIF, the index.dat file in TIF is reduced to the 32KB default empty.
     
  8. 2005/04/15
    pomak249

    pomak249 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks everybody,

    PC is running great so I'll leave well alone now!

    I guess the 'contentIE5' and 'index'dat' are there somewhere but hidden - perhaps they'll miraculously reappear at some point??

    Just wanted it for my 'Window Washer' utility as it cleans out the index.dat on re-boot - I get no error messages when running it so I guess it has found it anyway.

    Mick
     
  9. 2005/04/15
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    pomak249--Did my suggestion on finding Content.IE5 not work?
     
  10. 2005/04/15
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    1. you CAN delete these directories from the command line in XP, using the XP only command taskkill.exe. This is my "cleanup.cmd" flle:
    Code:
    taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
    RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files "
    RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Cookies "
    RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\History "
    RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Recent "
    RD /S/q   "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\ "
    MD  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\ "
    pause
    start explorer.exe
    These deleted dirs get recreated by Windows when explorer restarts, except Windows won't create the Temp dir, thus the need for MD \Temp.

    The location of the ContentIE5 dirs is NOT Documents and Settings\the_user_name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\. The ContentIE5 dirs are only supposed to exist in 3 places:
    1. Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
    2. Documents and Settings\DefaultUser\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
    3. Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
     
  11. 2005/04/15
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    TonyT--FWIW, my Content.IE folder with the alphanumeric files that actually contain cache items are in "C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 ". I run WinXP Pro SP2.
    I have at least five other Content.IE5 folders but they either are empty (except for desktop.ini and index.dat) or have alphanumeric files that are empty (except for desktop.ini).
     
  12. 2005/04/16
    pomak249

    pomak249 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi,

    Still cant find 'contentIE5' welshjim,Also tried your suggestion TonyT but couldnt get DOS to accept the commands.

    I did however discover that 'clear TIF on closing browser' was ticked in internet options > advanced tab - I have unticked it now and will see if that makes a difference.

    BTW, Is there a way of getting XP to show previews of jpegs etc in the left pane (as opposed to thumbnails) in explorer as per 98? Also any pictures I have in .art format dont show as thumbnails and just have an explorer icon showing - can I get these to show up?

    Cheers,

    Mick
     
  13. 2005/04/16
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    .ART is AOL's double compression feature. See What is Graphic Extension .ART? - solution posted there.
     
  14. 2005/04/16
    pomak249

    pomak249 Inactive Thread Starter

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    PeteC

    Excellent stuff - have changed AOL preferences for future downloads but doesnt help me with the shed loads of old stuff - guess i'll just have to grin and bear it !! They always previewed in 98 ??
     
  15. 2005/04/16
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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  16. 2005/04/16
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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