Why can't I delete some History entries?

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Guest

Using XP Pro. There are some History files in Local Settings/History/Day/My
Computer that won't delete. Most of them will delete (select it then hit
delete key or Right Click>Delete) but some won't. In W2000 any or all can be
individually deleted.

Anybody know why some of these History entries/URL shortcuts will delete and
others won't?

Thanx,

Ben
 
I wouldn't even make a guess without knowing what History entries in particular are
not deleting, but.......WHY are you using this method to delete your History?

If you click Start> Control Panel> Internet Options (or if you are using Category
view, Start> Control Panel> Network and Internet Connections> Internet Options), and
on the General tab, click Clear History, and click OK, all entries should be removed
when you look in Windows Explorer.
 
Glen:

Many Thanks for Your reply!

I used this method routinely to leave my history intact but remove a few
specific history items that I didn't want seen. That was easy with W2000,
but I was surprised to see that XP is different.

The entries I'm referring to are in C:\Docs&Settngs\username\Local
Settings\History\Day or Week\My Computer.

I guess I was trying to see if that situation (some of the entries being
deletable and some not) would ring a bell with someone. There are hundreds
of entries, mostly .htm, .doc, .w (these are WordPad docs), .jpg, etc. I can
select any or all of them then delete key or Right Click>delete. Wouldn't
you think that they would all just delete? Almost all will. Why would a few
(mostly .jpg, .w & .htm) not be deletable?

Again, Thanks,

Ben
 
Readyben said:
Glen:

Many Thanks for Your reply!

I used this method routinely to leave my history intact but remove a few
specific history items that I didn't want seen. That was easy with W2000,
but I was surprised to see that XP is different.

The entries I'm referring to are in C:\Docs&Settngs\username\Local
Settings\History\Day or Week\My Computer.

I guess I was trying to see if that situation (some of the entries being
deletable and some not) would ring a bell with someone. There are hundreds
of entries, mostly .htm, .doc, .w (these are WordPad docs), .jpg, etc. I can
select any or all of them then delete key or Right Click>delete. Wouldn't
you think that they would all just delete? Almost all will. Why would a few
(mostly .jpg, .w & .htm) not be deletable?
Click to expand...

I have no idea....or at least no idea that I can back up ;-)
Without being on your computer, I can't tell what might be different about those
entries. It's not a behaviour I have seen before.

You might try clearing your History via the front-end method I described and then
see if the new history that develops over time still has the problem.

What happens when you try to delete the undeletables? Do you get an error message?
 
Readyben said:
Glen:

Many Thanks for Your reply!

I used this method routinely to leave my history intact but remove a few
specific history items that I didn't want seen. That was easy with W2000,
but I was surprised to see that XP is different.

The entries I'm referring to are in C:\Docs&Settngs\username\Local
Settings\History\Day or Week\My Computer.

I guess I was trying to see if that situation (some of the entries being
deletable and some not) would ring a bell with someone. There are hundreds
of entries, mostly .htm, .doc, .w (these are WordPad docs), .jpg, etc. I can
select any or all of them then delete key or Right Click>delete. Wouldn't
you think that they would all just delete? Almost all will. Why would a few
(mostly .jpg, .w & .htm) not be deletable?

Again, Thanks,

Ben
Click to expand...

Hi Ben,
Mostly because they are Read-Only attributes been set to them or the system
think they are in use by other programs.
You can do that safely in safe Mode, I doubt that you will be able to change
the attributes as they write protect for the reason you know!.
HTH.
nass
nasstec.co.uk
 
Glen:

Again, thanks for your reply. I've never seen this behaviour before
either, and I've used this method for about 3 years with W2000.

I did try completely clearing the history and starting over, but the same
thing keeps happening.

There is no error message. A box with "Are you sure you want to delete
History item DMA000091 (DMA000091.jpg)?" comes up asking "yes" or "no." When
I click "yes" nothing at all happens. The entry stays selected.

Thanks for your input...

Ben
 
Thank you nass,

These don't seem to be files, or I could use "undeletable files" methods
to remove them. Even software to delete the undeletable doesn't work here.
These are entries in files similar to index.dat files that get converted to
these "History items" in the My Computer folder of a History "Day" or
"Week" folder. They are not write protected or in use files. The thing that
doesn't make sense is that most of them are easy to delete using Windows.
Give it a try and you'll see. You can even click Edit>Select All then hit
the delete key or Right Click>Delete. But there a few that are different for
some reason and they remain!

I was assuming that someone would have heard of this and may know what the
difference is...

Thanks Again,

Ben
 
Glen:

One other difference that may shed light on this. In both XP and W2000,
in any Local Settings\History\Day\My Computer folder, each entry is spelled
out like a filename with a filename extension. In W2000 the icon that
precedes the "filename" is the icon of the default program that opens those
files. In my system now, using XP, ALL these entries, regardless of the
filename extension, are preceded by the IE icon...

Mean anything to you?

Thanx,

Ben
 
Hi,
These entries won't delete (as Nass suggested) from Safe Mode?

Possible workaround...
IEHistoryView from http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iehv.html Use "Find" in
HistoryView then try to delete selected entries. IEHistoryView appears to
delete entries from the index.dat file rather than the History folder.
- -
Hope this helps,
Don
[MS MVP- IE]
 
Don:

Wow! This is unbelievable freeware! Not only is it free, but it deletes
those entries. Not only that, but it makes it easier to review entries and,
in an orderly way, delete everything from the whole list that needs to be
deleted - instead of one "Day folder" at a time. It also reveals everything
that's still in the IE History file that's not showing in Local
Settings>History because it was "deleted."

Thanks for a great tip!

Ben
 
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