Really Hidden Files (for XP only)

[cross]

Microsoft's Really Hidden Files: Updated Specifically for XP:

http://www.****microsoft.com has a nice little tut on Microsofts Really Hidden Files which shows you how to find cached information stored about you and what your doing on your win95/98 box. Unfortunately, they do not tell you about XP, where they have changed everything around a little. This TUT is to show you where this information is stored on XP and how to get rid of it!

Before you begin:

Please ensure that you have done the following:
You are log 'd on as Administrator (or the first user created during setup)
You have set the XP theme to Classic (might work otherwise, didn't test)

1. double click my computer
2. double click your primary drive (i.e. C )
3. click Tools on the menu
4. select Folder Options
5. select View
6. make sure Show Hidden files and folders is Selected
7. Uncheck the box next to "Hide protected operating system files(Recommended)
8. click Apply
9. Click OK
10. double click Documents and Settings
11. Double click desired User (you can do this for each individual user, each has their own cache)
12. Double click Local Settings
13. Double Click Temporary Internet Files
14. Highlight the Address in the Address bar, copy it, put it in a TextPad (notepad)

This next part is a little tricky. You will need to open a Command prompt, click Start, Run, type Command, Press OK
You need to get dos to the same folder you browsed to, but in order to do that, you must Truncate the address so that Dos can understand it. For example, if my username were pothead, it would look like this:
C:\Docume~1\pothead\LocalS~1\Tempor~1
or if it were winbitazz it would look like this:
C:\Docume~1\winbit~1\LocalS~1\Tempor~1
Anything over 8 chars is truncated with a ~1, (this of course means that anything over 8 chars will have the first six chars showing followed by a '~1' makeing up 8 chars, for example georgecarlin.txt would be truncated to george~1.txt> Its called 8.3 filenameing system.) you may have to play with it a few minutes as not all systems and usernames are the same, sorry ;)

15. Type: Edit desktop.ini
16. Once desktop.ini opens, push the down arrow once, putting your cursor on the second line. Put a minus sign at the beginning of this line. Also add a minus sign immediately after the =
17. Click File, Save
18. Click back to your Windows Explorer
19. Hit the Back button
20. double click Temporary Internet Files (yes i know you were just there)
21. A new folder should have appeared, Content.IE5. double click it
22. explore all the files, and see what Microsoft has been collecting about you

Side Note: I feel this comes under Personal Security, not to metion a real waste of space! I had 1.5 gigs in there and I only have a 6 gig drive! This is not really fair from a consumer point of view, seems they want your drive to fill up so you must upgrade it.... If anyone feels this should not be posted, let me know and I will delete it, no neg points needed.....

[phishphreek]

That method is much easier than the one I've been taking...

All this time, I've been going to the recovery console to get rid of that crap.

I was most surprised to see Outlook messages with attachments were still there... even though they've long since been deleted. :rolleyes:

[Suberme]

Once youve done all that, is it safe to delete the file, or just the contents, also is there anyway to prevent data from being saved there?

[phishphreek]

You can move the folder in internet options.

You can also reduce the size limit to put in the temporary internet folder. The minimum is 1mb. Though you may be able to tweak that in the registry. I've never tried. I was looking for a way to move the files directly to the recylce bin... but as of yet haven't found a way.

You could always use a different web browser... there are several more out there that are just as good if not better. Many people here think anything is better than IE... including Lynx. ;)

[Collapse]

Seems mine are really empty... something must be cleaning them itself. Maybe MRU Blaster ?

I use Mozilla most of the time anyway, maybe this is the reason :D

[AciDriveHB]

Well I just did this at work, and only had 6.66MB of information in there (7.53MB on disk)... heheh, weird how M$ is. Plus at work I have Windows 2000, so it will work on both XP and 2000 following the steps listed above.

Very good post though, interested to see what I got in that folder at home...

[Terr]

FYI... Not sure about 95 but it works with 95... if you want to go to the folder 'My Documents' you can also do this:
cd "my documents"
rather than
cd mydocu~1

Just use the quotes.

[Zonewalker]

hmm... interestingly I didn't actually have to do all of the above in order to see my content.IE5 folder, it's already there.... having said that I use a RAM disk to store ALL of my temporary internet information on, including index.dat... gets wiped away every time I switch the computer off... so I never actually have to worry about putting temp internet stuff anywhere near a recycle bin and never have to worry about persistent cookies or anything :D

Z

[Tetrismaster101]

I recently got a program called SYSTEM MECHANIC it works on almost all microsoft and mac computers including XP. The cool thing about this program is that you can fine tune your internet, computer speed, installation of software and other intresting objects of fun. Also one of the best things about this program is that you can install the Incinerator for complete deleting of stuff you decide to delete, but be warned that once you delete an item there is no way to get it back. You can set the amount of times the data is overwritten with random data and when you restart your computer or shutdown to dos, your computer completely deletes that data from the system.

Believe me it does alot to delete cookies and the cache!
It might even protect your ass from all those sites we're not really supposed to see (i.e. Porn, Government, Military)!

[Maverick811]

Damn Microsoft! I use IE a fair amount (unfortunately), so I've probably got a good amount of junk - I've gotta go get to cleanin'!

Things like this piss me off - but what doesn't when you are having a bad day..

[allenb1963]

Ive been using shareware called Total Commander (formerly Windows Commander) as a file manager for several years now and this thread highlights one of the reasons why. In the options menu of TC you can set it to display hidden files....one tic and all is revealed. Take into consideration all the other features (FTP client, compression/decompression, etc.) and suddenly you find yourself never wanting (or needing) to open windows explorer again. If you want to see for yourselves, head over to www.ghisler.com and give it a spin around the HD.

[phishphreek]

FYI... Not sure about 95 but it works with 95... if you want to go to the folder 'My Documents' you can also do this:
cd "my documents"
rather than
cd mydocu~1

Just use the quotes.

Another FYI-

In Win2k and XP... you can use

cd My*

to pull the first My whatever folder

or cd pro*

to pull the program files folder

If you have other folders that come first... you will have to add extra letters.
What I mean by that... is

If you have 2 folders that start with pro

problems
programs

using the cd pro* will pull c:\problems instead of c:\program files

[kiowa-mike]

Great post cross. It sure came in handy reclaiming disk space.

[tonybradley]

On my home computer I came up with about 300Mb of junk.

From what I can see it is mostly just that though- junk! Its a bunch of images from banner ads and graphics from buttons. I don't see any personal information or anything of value.

Has anyone found a specific file that contains personal info or any sensitive information? I'm not saying that it is OK as long as there is no personal info- it is still wrong that there is a 300+ Mb file on my hard drive containing junk that remains hidden even after I unhide all system files.

I'm just curious if anyone has found information buried in this junk that contains personal data or sensitive data like credit card numbers.

[AciDriveHB]

My Content.IE5 (which is weird, why is it IE5 when IE6 is out and I installed it??) was not visable, but I ran through and did that little "edit" and found that my IE folder was only 1.23MB in size.

So with people saying they had 1.5GB in temp files and such, I have to ask (not trying to make anyone sound stupid) if people are emptying their cache folder for Internet Explorer?

More and more that's all this seems like, is a "physical" way of deleting files out of a cache folder.

[cross]

I just want to say that i have my Internet Explorer Settings set to like 10 megs maximum. The thing was, most of the files in my folder were media clips, a lot of my joke vids that I have burned over the past month and such, not all cookies. I dont use any kind of extra programs to clear any of my stuff, but still, 1.5 gigs when I told IE only 10 megs? I dont think this is the same folder IE Settings are referring to..... although mabey I am wrong? There is another Temp Internet Files folder somewhere else that isn't hidden, I think that's what you guys keep talking about.

[\/IP3R]

Well this is very good trick but doesnot works on win xp home edition because you cannot copy the addresses to the notepad and if you cant copy those to notepad there is no way you are going to see anything in Edit desktop.ini because there is nothing gonna be in there, so I don't know any other way around to edit those files. I tried to open the same files through notepad but when you click on temporary internet files it prompts you with IE5 folder and when I clicked on it, guess what son of a bitch denying me access to this folder. So in short I guess all xp users have to compromise with their privacy untill some one finds any other way to safely romove those files so Microsoft can't see anything anymore.
Nice find though cross.

[Suberme]

Viper, I have windows xp home edition, it worked for me, it doesnt matter if you cant copy the address to notepad, you can just as easily type it in manually, and there is 2 lines in the edit desktop, or at least for me there is. If its denying you access to the folder, maybe your username is a limited account, might wanna look into that under users.

[cross]

\/IP3R :
In your post it seems like you are trying to edit desktop.ini with notepad. You need to browse to that folder in DOS, and edit it with the Edit command. This should bypass any problems with access to that file. Let me know how it turns out.

[\/IP3R]

Thanks cross, the problem was that I was running dos from accessories and not from run. I got it now thanks and thankyou suberme for your tip too.

[Stormcr0w]

FYI:

To get the the directory you can use the following steps: (even if you are not logged in as an Adminstrator):

1. Click on Start
2. Click on Run
3. Type CMD
4. Press Enter
5. From the command window you should switch to a C:\> prompt and then run the following command:

cd "Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files"


**NOTE: You will need to replace <username> with your actual username.

[\/IP3R]

That is so f***ed up man........ I can't beleive this. It is totally invasion of privacy. I am going to delete all of them. Thank you.

[July]

Just another reason to run linux hehe ;)

[cheyenne1212]

If I'm right it says that I have about 25 GB (yes 25 gigabytes) Used on my hard drive for these files. At least I have a 80GB HDD.

Thanks for the info

[Terr]

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=#post) by phishphreek80

Another FYI-
In Win2k and XP... you can use
cd My*
to pull the first My whatever folder
or cd pro*
to pull the program files folder


I think that this is just pattern-matching with the CD command. You could also do "cd *m*docu*ents* and it would take you there...

And you can also try using TAB to autocomplete a file or directory name in the current directory. If you hit tab multiple times it will cycle through all of the possibilities that start with what you had before you pressed tab.

[er0k]

wow terr is around, hey terr long time no forum abusage ;) j/k

nice tut cross

[\/IP3R]

I am up on this from some hours now and I came up with the conclusion that even if you delete all of those files from your computer, it still doesn't make any difference unless you delete a folder called Index DAT.File. Which is imposssible to delete. And it is keep on polluting your computer unless you delete this specific file. You can open this folder with notepad and modify it and save it, but again you cannot change it even though you delete all the coding inside it and save the folder as empty, it re-generate all of its code with the web sites and the movements you did over the internet. So in short no matter how many times you delete those hidden files and folders, Microsoft still is going to spy on you untill you delete that specific folder. Any thoughts how to delete it.

[black_death]

i knew about this way before but thought it was not that much important, i used another
method that is lot easier than yours at least i think so,here it is :
1)find the folder [rootdrive]:\documents and settings\[user]\local settings\
2)now copy any of the folders you want(History or Temporary internet files)and paste it in another location
3)open the file
4)bingo

no need for using commandprompt


tanx anyway

[jinxy]

Something for xp users. rather than type a complet path there is a power toy from windows that will cmd prompt from here.

Saves the fingers a bit

[shot_gun_stu]

I use xp and after viewing the the hidden files and show all files etc, the content ie5 directory is already listed in temp internet files. Can't understand why you have to go through all that just to view this folder. Am i missing something or what?

[tonybradley]

I don't know shot_gun_stu.

I have 2 different XP Pro systems and in both cases my Temporary Internet Files folder contained thousands of files- mainly cookies- until I followed these instructions.

I believe the main point is that there is a difference between the standard known temporary internet files- which you can set the max size of and empty at will, and the information kept in this secret hidden file that seems to remain hidden even after you unhide everything.

[shot_gun_stu]

Tony

After further investigation I have just realised that it wasn't listed for myself under ‘docs and settings\my username\local settings\temp internet files’, but it was for other users, therefore I logged on as another user with administrator privileges and there it was, listed under my username: -

Docs and Settings\my username\Local Settings\Temp Internet Files\content ie5\

[cross]

I am still trying to figure out how to delete/edit the Index.dat file listed there. It contains information about web addys you have visited in the past. Any sugguestions/comments would be helpfull. :)

[tonybradley]

While I consider it an invasion of privacy and a mistake on Microsoft's part I have not tried to delete it. I have assumed that removing it would disable IE in some way or that it would just be re-created next time you start IE.

[phishphreek]

Cross:

Login with different admin account. You can then delete the file because it won't be in use.

So far, that is the only way I have figured out how to delete it.

EDIT: I think IE will just recreate the file. I did it a while back and never ran into problems.

[roswell1329]

Hmm...it seems to me that all the files in all those directories that were "revealed" by this method were simply standard web-cache files. There weren't any files in my directory that hadn't been downloaded from websites I had visited since the last time I used "Delete all offline files". The only thing I'm curious about is the index.dat file. This may contain some more info than I'd like to keep around. From a quick Google search, I found at least one company is making money off of these curious .dat files:

http://www.acesoft.net/delete_index.dat_files.htm

[dublix]

The .dat file does recreate itself,however there is a solution. http://www.webattack.com/get/spider.shtml
Spider.

"(for XP only)"
Yeah i just looked, this one only covers 9x/NT/ME/2K/. But alot of software for 9x/NT/ME/2K/ also works in XP. Worth a shot.

[Director]

Very interesting post -- thanks cross. I found 58.8 Meg of junk in the Content.IE5 folder on my computer. I got it down to 7.22 Meg by using IE's Internet Tools | Delete Files & Delete Cookies -- something I do fairly frequently anyway.

Still, 7 Meg of space on my hard disk hijacked by M$ is more than a little annoying. IE is the standard in my company, and setting up RAM disks to resolve this problem is a tad more support-intensive than I care to take on.

Somehow M$ always wins, even in the battle over hardware resources.

Director

[jagcody]

Great post. I logged on as another Admin and found alot more than I thought would be there. Thanks for clearing up some of my space... :D

[deftones12]

Thats not spying...it just takes all the files that were originally in the Temp. file and places them into the Content.IE5 folder. Does microsoft check that folder???....i dunno...but all that add a minus here and add a minus there does is put all those Temp. Files into the Content File. Sorry to ruin all the hype :-/

Calvin

[cross]

deftones12, they are 2 different folders, if not, then can you please explain to me why there were full length movies sitting in there on my computer? I mean come on, they have NOTHING to do with IE in any way shape or form.... The temp IE folder and this folder are entirely different folders, as stated somewhere above. If I am wrong, please correct me :)

[tonybradley]

Thats not spying...it just takes all the files that were originally in the Temp. file and places them into the Content.IE5 folder.

I disagree. There is a visible, controllable Temporary Internet Files folder. You can see it. You can see what's in it. You can set restrictions on its size and you can delete the files in it.

This is completely hidden- even after you select to Show All Hidden files and folders.

I don't know what the intent or use is, but it seems very illegitimate.

[Ice Czar]

In NTSF there are also Alternative Data Streams
these are the true hidden files, make that file system

to view these you can employ List Alternative Data Streams (http://www.heysoft.de/nt/ep-lads.htm) (LADS) Freeware

Alternative Data Streams FAQ (http://www.heysoft.de/Frames/f_faq_ads_en.htm)
The Dark Side of NTFS (http://patriot.net/~carvdawg/docs/dark_side.html)
Inside Win2K NTFS Part 2 (http://www.chi-publishing.com/isb/backissues/ISB_2000/ISB0508/ISB0508HC.pdf) Windows 2000 Magazine
NTFS Alternative Data Streams (http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Print.cfm?ArticleID=19878) Windows and .NET Magazine
Ntework Trojans: What you really need to know (http://www.chi-publishing.com/isb/backissues/ISB_2000/ISB0508/ISB0508HC.pdf) Information Security Bulletin

Alternative Data Streams pose a unique
(and thankfully so far, underemployed) security threat

[machinehead]

Does anyone know what the official reason for this is? I'm sure they would claim that Microsoft never ever looks in that directory. hehe

[brujoh]

Cool stuff definately.. I saw stuff I browsed for a couple of years ago. One thing that may be a little easier on changing directories from a command line.

Try: cd docu* instead of having to type the truncated lines. This works under Linux as well.

Best Regards,

Brujoh

[HippoDuck]

:confused:

I googleed "UICLSID={7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}"
http://www.geocities.com/registrylord/desktop.txt

I dont understand why one would go to all that trouble or buy / download software to delete temporary inet files ?

All you have to do is to open in IE the Tools menu / select internet options, click on delete files (tick the "delete all offline content"), then click on delete cookies (if you realy want to log into all those websites again) and finaly the clear history button.

That still leaves a few files and folders, but not those megabytes as some has found according to this thread.

One good idea is to tick under advanced options the "empty internet files folder when browser is closed" this wount delete cookies or the history, but still those who reported really big temp files should defenetly do this. (exept if still surffing with modem)

Deleteing cookies from the internet temporary files, will also delete them from the cookies sub dir under the user profile. Guess its the same files, just from a different "view"

Invasion of privacy ? Am I missing something?

[Ice Czar]

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=#post) by HippoDuck
:confused:



I dont understand why one would go to all that trouble


To protect my plans for World Domination of course :p

The CAD files of my death ray must not fall into the hands of the authorities


In reality, encrypting your hard drive would be a better solution
ADS (Alternative Data Streams) where originally implemented for Mac interoperability,
there are many theories as to why Microsoft's index.dat's exist, a forensics trail for the authorities ranks pretty high

I used to employ Spider (http://www.fsm.nl/ward/) to remove these in IE5
now I use Phoenix

Now a days if there is something I want to kill I employ a W2K\XP shutdown script

To create a shutdown script for Win2k/XP...

Create a new text document with the dos command to delete the file that you want using the old 8.3 filename structure...

For example "del c:\progra~1\annoying.dll" (without quotes)

Then save the file as a .cmd file. Then click Start, Run and type in GPEDIT.MSC and click ok.

From there find the Scripts section (am not in front of a machine at the moment that I can access it) then select shutdown and open the window. Activate your .cmd file in that window and click apply and ok. Close down and reboot the computer to run the file, then check to see if it is still there when your computer comes back on.

Then go back into gpedit.msc and remove the file from the scripts
Its one of the most useful things that I have found, I have it set to automatically delete all users temp files and all the internet temp files including the content.ie5 ones every time windows shuts down.

If I get a trojan that gets past my AV and my firewall, 9 times out of ten gets nuked at reboot
Its great for any number of things...

For those that cannot find the scripts setting a direct way in is here:

Start > Run > GPEDIT.MSC (click ok) > Local Computer Policy > Windows Settings > Scripts(Startup/Shutdown) > Shutdown (double click) > Click Add and then Browse... add your .cmd file there...

I swiped the above italics from Necropolis

[beyond]

nice....several gigz cleaned now,and ill sleep alittle better....maybe :)

[scratchONtheBOX]

beyond, welcome to AO!

This thread is actually way too old (check the flashy thing, if it flashes, it's way too old)...

Please visit the AO FAQ HerE (http://www.antionline.com/faq/faq.php) for more introduction!

Yo!

[guardian alpha]

You all know that just clearing out the temporary internet files via the IE tools and settings, clears this out. Right? Not just the temporary internet files folder, but also this "tin-foil hat" folder that everyone is getting worked up about.

edit Yeah, that's it. Let's neg me because you don't appreciate someone rehashing old information. God forbid people have more to contribute to this, after all. In fact, bring it on. I'll completely reopen this and expand upon it SINCE it applies to the same subject as the parent poster.

That's not a bad thing right? Continuing a conversation that is completely relevant to the parent poster? Good.


A few things to note about this hidden folder "tin-foil" method. The folder is created by Explorer for 2 main reasons:

1. Microsoft is trying to protect copyright law by moving some data to a secondary hidden folder. Most .mov and .wmv files will be moved here for this exact reason. Granted, all information in the temporary internet folder is copied into the IE tinhat folder, but notice that there are a lot of files in the Ie tinhat folder that are media based and do not exist in the temporary internet folder. This is called "Assisted copyright protection", so non-savvy users can't start pirating data from the web.

2. Backup. A lot of employess know how to delete their history trail, but not all of them know about registry editing and clearing a secondary Ie folder. Granted, it's a messy hack, but MS learned that employers wanted a feature that would backup the history/cookies/data of employees that surfed the web. Most common-day admins will expand upon this and backup that hidden folder every hour, since doing so won't hinder the box in a way that would make the user suspicious.

And there you have it. No hidden MS agenda to send off that information. No hidden MS agenda to copy that information to their servers. For those of you who have ran an sniffer, you'll see this first hand. None of that data is sent out. Not weekly, not daily, not 'per reboot', and not when a program is in use.

There is a LOT of myth and mystery behind a subject that should never be tinfoil hatted.

Let me also address the people telling me to "read the FAQ!". I already did, so let me read it to you:
Posts with blinking dates are posts that are older than 336 hours, or 2 weeks. Keep this in mind when you reply to a post with blinking dates.

That's it. Not OMFGDON0T POST!!!11. Not "I recommend you not posting". But to keep in mind how old a topic may be when posting a reply to it.

[jinxy]

1. Microsoft is trying to protect copyright law by moving some data to a secondary hidden folder. Most .mov and .wmv files will be moved here for this exact reason. Granted, all information in the temporary internet folder is copied into the IE tinhat folder, but notice that there are a lot of files in the Ie tinhat folder that are media based and do not exist in the temporary internet folder. This is called "Assisted copyright protection", so non-savvy users can't start pirating data from the web.
Balls, Temp internet is hidden, full stop.


2. Backup. A lot of employess know how to delete their history trail, but not all of them know about registry editing and clearing a secondary Ie folder. Granted, it's a messy hack, but MS learned that employers wanted a feature that would backup the history/cookies/data of employees that surfed the web. Most common-day admins will expand upon this and backup that hidden folder every hour, since doing so won't hinder the box in a way that would make the user suspicious.
So why is it still a feature of XP Home

And there you have it. No hidden MS agenda to send off that information. No hidden MS agenda to copy that information to their servers. For those of you who have ran an sniffer, you'll see this first hand. None of that data is sent out. Not weekly, not daily, not 'per reboot', and not when a program is in use.


So why is it necessary to hack the registery to erase the paging files on reboot. Why is it that every dasta recovery job I have done has recovered stuf that people would rather not have anyone see? Why can I recover typed URLs? etc,etc.

I ware no hat tinfoil or other.

[guardian alpha]

Balls, Temp internet is hidden, full stop.

And? The majority of non-savvy people know how to turn on "show hidden files", due to how plain in site it is. It's also a common tactic that MANY network security websites teach to very basic users when it comes to removing spyware. The MAJORITY of normal windows xp users will know how to accomplish this task. Not nearly as many know (or will have the courage) how to hop into cmd.exe and do some direct file editing to uncover a hidden folder. (much less which file to edit).

So why is it still a feature of XP Home

Why do buisness workstations still use Windows 2k instead of Windows 2k Server or Professional? For the same reason that a lot of companies will run Windows XP Home on the workstations of their normal users:

1. Advanced features like connecting remotely to other computers is not something a typical day-shift employee needs, and therefore it is useless to include that and many other admin-level applications and configurations that a user will never use.

2. Because of #1, having your users on a OS that is much more rapidly supported now and in the future means it is still going to cost money. Since they don't need the features to accomplish their daily tasks that the admin needs, Windows XP Home is cheaper for the company and still gets the job accomplished for the day-shifters.

Windows XP Home still has it because bossess/admins still want to keep track of day-shift employees. That is why it is still in Windows XP Home.

So why is it necessary to hack the registery to erase the paging files on reboot. Why is it that every dasta recovery job I have done has recovered stuf that people would rather not have anyone see? Why can I recover typed URLs? etc,etc.

I already explained this in my origonal post, so just go back and read the reason #2 of my first post in this thread.

I ware no hat tinfoil or other.

So what were you trying to accomplish here?

[scratchONtheBOX]

beyond, welcome to AO!

This thread is actually way too old (check the flashy thing, if it flashes, it's way too old)...

Please visit the AO FAQ HerE for more introduction!

Yo!

guardian alpha,

Hi!

Telling a fellow AO Newbie to visit the AO FAQ is not bad, right?

I think it’s a nicer way than telling, “OMFGDON0T POST!!!11. Not "I recommend you not posting".

Another point, the last post before beyond’s post was posted 04-16-2003 11:04 PM, and a reply after 22 months like

nice....several gigz cleaned now,and ill sleep alittle better....maybe

could use a little AO FAQ reading.

The thread helped him, yeah, so as the AO FAQ could help him more.



Yo!

[guardian alpha]

Another point, the last post before beyond’s post was posted 04-16-2003 11:04 PM, and a reply after 22 months like could use a little AO FAQ reading

Why? Because he wanted to talk about how much the topic helped him? Because he has to say somethign relevant to the origonal topic and didn't want to start a fresh one just to report how well it worked?

You all badger new people for not searching AO before asking questions, but yet when they try to continue a thread that they found by searching, you neg them. Why? What would be the point in opening up a new thread that has to link to an entirley seperate thread before he can even discuss what he wants? ESPECIALLY when he can just continue a thread that already exists on a topic that is exactally what he wants to talk about.

Forget how old a thread is. Relevance is relevance is relevance. Can you honestly tell me that you want all old thread information to become outdated? So that when you tell them to search the forums for their answers, they discover 2-3 years old worth of information that may/may not be valid and up to date, without a hint that the information MAY be updated but never brought to light?

And scratch, the FAQ doesn't even get close to recommending people NOT post in old threads. It says to keep in mind how old the thread is. This is because the information may be so old that no one remembers anything about it, and thus you may not get a reply.

[jinxy]

So what were you trying to accomplish here?

Devils Advocate mostly :D

Why do business workstations still use Windows 2k instead of Windows 2k Server or Professional

I would hazard a quess that 2k Server is totaly inapropriate for a workstation. However I understand your point of view. Three years ago I worked for a company that was still useing Win 95!!

[scratchONtheBOX]

guardian alpha,

:) Hi again!

And scratch, the FAQ doesn't even get close to recommending people NOT post in old threads. It says to keep in mind how old the thread is. This is because the information may be so old that no one remembers anything about it, and thus you may not get a reply.

Right. That's why I said...

beyond, welcome to AO!

This thread is actually way too old (check the flashy thing, if it flashes, it's way too old)...

Please visit the AO FAQ HerE for more introduction!

I did not say this “OMFGDON0T POST!!!11. Not "I recommend you not posting".... or maybe you understand it this way, sorry... What the idea is, as a newbie like me, I've been introduced to reading the FAQ, the same way I am introducing to our felow newbie here, now, is there any other else that bothers you?

You miss my point, I guess...

Now, I should suggest you go get on the topic with jinxy ;)



Peace!

Yo!

[AxessTerminated]

You do not reply to 22 month old topics to say it helped you. You give the user positive AP points, and describe why in the little text box that says "Description" or something of the sort. If you are to reply to such an old thread, it is not to say something 'relevant', but to expand upon the topic. Have we learned anything new from that post..or from any others? No. Going to www.microsuck.com will tell you everything that was already listed.

balls to you AO Newbies..don't screw with senior members, you just can't win.
A_T

[josephjohnt]

Just few updates what i've seen.

You need not use the actual 8.3 names. Put the entire copied text between "" and you can use spaces in dos commands.

You can use the normal windows explorer, without editing any file to clean up the temporary files of any other user profile other than the one logged on to. you can see the temporary folders listed down like normal folders in other user profiles. check it out.

Also other 3rd party programs with folder browsing capabilities lists down these folders.

-Joseph

[scooper33]

When I run Command it comes up
C:\Docume~1\Admini~1>
I copied and put the address on notepad that was
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet File
What do I need to type and when I type the edit ini it says to type minus and after the = there is none of that Please help

[t34b4g5]

When I run Command it comes up
C:\Docume~1\Admini~1>
I copied and put the address on notepad that was
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet File
What do I need to type and when I type the edit ini it says to type minus and after the = there is none of that Please help

Ok once you open the .ini file you need to press the Down Arrow Once

then at the start of that 2nd line you need to put a - at the very start of the line and at the end of the line it will have a = put a space and then put another -

Then once that is done save the file :)

[chaosclown]

just download ccleaner. its fast and effective, they're always updating it too. heres the link http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

[cross]

Wow, blast from the past lol.
Thanks for the tip chaosclown, I'll check it out. Always looking for good utilities and tools for my collection ;)

[chaosclown]

yeah lol. that whole site has a lot of very good utilities, and most of em are all free. i go there for my graphics driver updates :)