From: Bill Morrow (penzance_at_icanect.net)
Date: Mon Nov 15 1999 - 01:07:27 EST
OK, i'll buy this statement, but what happens to the index file when i delete one of the "cookie" files..?? :-)
Ken wrote:
> At 12:42 AM 11/13/99 -0600, Jon W wrote:
> >If you go to the cookies folder in windows ( use find: cookies) there is one
> >file call : Index.dat that seems to get larger and larger by day !
> >You couldnt delete it from windows and you have to do it via MS DOS.
> >I was wondering if anyone know what is the purpose of this file. Is this
> >another MICROSCARE tatics in order to "log" internet explorer user ??
>
> As far as I've been able to determine, Windows keeps track of "special" folders (like Cookies and browsing History) in single indexed files, called index.dat. Then, when we see files inside these folders (representing the actual cookies, or the actual URL's visited), we're really seeing a representation of the index.dat file; i.e. the little files don't exist, just the index.dat file. I believe that when you reboot in DOS mode, you only see the index.dat file. (And, in the History folder, you don't even see the index.dat file when you're looking via Windows.) And, if you view the index.dat file, it contains the data you see inside the virtual files within that folder.
>
> It's an example of a clever (and useful to the user) way of integrating the browser with the OS - they store things within big files, just like Netscape would, but then they enable the OS's explorer interface to be smart and let the user manipulate the contents of these files as though they were a bunch of smaller files.
>
> I might be right. Apologies for replying to this off-topic inquiry.
>
> - Ken
-- Happy trails...** Bill Morrow ** :-) WEB page http://thinkpads.com e-mail: bill_at_thinkpads.com, penzance_at_icanect.net
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