Cannot delete history in IE6

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike

I have a Windows 2000 machine with IE6 sp1 installed on
it. I have been keeping up with the updates but all of a
sudden, I am no longer able to delete all the history in
Internet Explorer. I have cleaned all temp, temp internet
folders. I have deleted the index.dat file, each folder
under the Content folder.

I have gone on a search and destroy mission through the
registry cleaning the websites out of there and installed
a copy on Win Cleaner on the machine and it still did not
work.

I have made sure that the recycle bin is cleaned out. I
have deleted all the entries in the history folder but
some sites still stay around.

I have searched the internet high and low and see that
there are enough of us with the same issue to start a
support group but nobody appears to have any answers.

Does anyone have any clue on this or if I want to resolve
it do I need to plan on formatting the hard drive and
starting new.

Thanks for any help!
 
Mike,
With no IE windows open, try it from Control Panel> Internet Options.

Or you might have the problem involving Easy CD Creator, see:
http://www.purgeie.com/lockhist.htm

Or you might need to delete the affected History folder (which will also
delete History\index.dat.) With Win2k- login as administrator or another
user with admin privileges and delete the folder at (for example)
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\History. More info at
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/delcache.htm

Regards,
Don
 
One more possibility to check:

I've had the same problem erasing History in IE for a long
time and none of the usual suggestions helped, including
deleting the folder in DOS, accessing Internet Options
through Control Panel, purging all spyware, and crippling
any protective programs that were running.

However, I discovered that I had a separate "Internet
Options" screen available within my AOL browser that did
indeed let me clear the History cache. Apparently the
software from AOL (and maybe other ISP software as well)
can keep a "handle" on the History folder preventing other
processes from deleting its contents. This appears to be
true regardless of which browser (IE or AOL's) originally
went to the sites in the cache.

The path for deleting the history cache and other web
matters in AOL (6.0 for example) is as follows:
Settings > Preferences > Internet Properties
From there, the screens should look somewhat familiar and
the procedure will be obvious.

Kevin
-----Original Message-----
Mike,
With no IE windows open, try it from Control Panel> Internet Options.

Or you might have the problem involving Easy CD Creator, see:
http://www.purgeie.com/lockhist.htm

Or you might need to delete the affected History folder (which will also
delete History\index.dat.) With Win2k- login as administrator or another
user with admin privileges and delete the folder at (for example)
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\History. More info at
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/delcache.htm

Regards,
Don
--
Newsgroup replies preferred, but e-mail address is...
d.varnau[at]lycos[dot]com
- - - - - - - -

Mike said:
I have a Windows 2000 machine with IE6 sp1 installed on
it. I have been keeping up with the updates but all of a
sudden, I am no longer able to delete all the history in
Internet Explorer. I have cleaned all temp, temp internet
folders. I have deleted the index.dat file, each folder
under the Content folder.

I have gone on a search and destroy mission through the
registry cleaning the websites out of there and installed
a copy on Win Cleaner on the machine and it still did not
work.

I have made sure that the recycle bin is cleaned out. I
have deleted all the entries in the history folder but
some sites still stay around.

I have searched the internet high and low and see that
there are enough of us with the same issue to start a
support group but nobody appears to have any answers.

Does anyone have any clue on this or if I want to resolve
it do I need to plan on formatting the hard drive and
starting new.

Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...

.
Click to expand...
 
My personal experience with Win 2000 is not extensive
since I have Win 98 on the computer hat I use the most.
However I can suggest the following:

If you haven't already, search this forum for suggestions
about disabling AutoComplete (which can allow history info
to survive cache deleteion). Then make sure that the
index.dat files that you say you have deleted (in DOS I
presume) include ALL the users that may exist, including
default, all users, etc. See the Documents and Settings
folder to find just how many there are.

If the above does not help, below is a copy of what I have
posted for others with a related problem. It may or may
not apply to you.

"I've had the same problem erasing History in IE for a
long time and none of the usual suggestions helped,
including deleting the folder in DOS, accessing Internet
Options through Control Panel, purging all spyware, and
crippling any protective programs that were running.

However, I discovered that I had a separate "Internet
Options" screen available within my AOL browser that did
indeed let me clear the History cache. Apparently the
software from AOL (and maybe other ISP software as well)
can keep a "handle" on the History folder preventing other
processes from deleting its contents. This appears to be
true regardless of which browser (IE or AOL's) originally
went to the sites in the cache.

The path for deleting the history cache and other web
matters in AOL (6.0 for example) is as follows:
Settings > Preferences > Internet Properties
From there, the screens should look somewhat familiar and
the procedure will be obvious."

Kevin
 
Back
Top