At 03:41 PM 8/11/01 +0530, sam alok wrote the following:
>I use win98 and IE 5.5. We all know that cookies get saved under
>"windows/cookies" folder. Besides individual cookies, we find a
>file"index.dat" which invariably has a minimum 16kb size, even after using
>applications like 'historykill' or 'cache and cookie washer'. I would like
>to know
>(a)what is actually contained in the "index.dat" file when it is at the
>minimum of 16kb? Is there any application to peer into the file?
>(b)Why its size increases to ,say, 32 or 48 kbs when we browse the internet,
>as the cookies after all get separately saved as individual text files in
>the same folder?
When you visit a web page, Internet Explorer assigns the web address a
unique identification number and searches the INDEX.DAT for that
identification number. If the web page's identification number is found, the
contents of the web page are stored locally on your computer's hard disk (in
C:WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\) and Internet Explorer uses the locally
stored content. If the web page's identification number is not found, the
contents of the web page are downloaded from the Internet. Downloading of
the web page occurs if this is the first visit, the web page has changed, or
the web page 's identification number has expired I don't know the expiry
time offhand). When the web page's content has been downloaded to the hard
disk, the INDEX.DAT file is updated with the web page's identification number.
Actually you can have many INDEX.DAT files, the main one is located in
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Intenr Explorer\UserData. The second
important one is located in C:\WINDOWS\Cookies
The size was probably determined by the programmer at MS who was given the
job of writing a database file to store this information. Hence the 16
kilobyte file size. Likewise each time the file needs to be written to hold
more data it was probably determined to be easier to increment in 16K
chunks. This is typical when writing a database application.
Because the index.dat file is a binary file (program defined by a C
structure command) you will need a hexadecimal editor (hexedit). to view the
contents. The contents can be viewed in both text and hex format with most
hex editors.
NOTE: every time you erase/delete the INDEX.DAT files they will be
re-written. The registry key is
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings\5.0\Cache
If you check the Signature data ("Client UrlCache MMF Ver 5.2") you will see
that that is the same information written in the INDEX.DAT file as the first
27 bytes.
To find a hex editor for download visit CNET download, use "hex editor" as
search term. Many, many to choose from...
http://shareware.cnet.com/
--
Gerry Boyd
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