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How to get rid of .dat files?

Posted By : Josephine of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on April 15, 2001

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What are *.dat files? Why can't you delete them from your windows cookie folder and Temporary internet file folder?

This question was answered on April 15, 2001. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.


Hi: .dat files are data files used for a wide variety of purposes,

e g., McAfee uses .dat files for important virus-prevention information; user.dat and system.dat are registry files containing important user and system info, etc The .dat files in your cookies and tif's contain info about your use of the internet, websites, etc.

I found an article at www.infinisource.com that says that Internet Explorer 4 is flawed in that it allows index.dat files to remain even if you have deleted your tif's However, you can remove the index.dat files by restarting your Windows 98 in ms-dos mode Start Smartdrive (Disk Cache) by typing Smartdrv Type Deltree which should show the path to your tif's The default is C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files You would have to put quotation marks around this command, or use C:\Windows\Tempor~1 After deleting the files, restart Windows Your tif directory will be recreated.

If you have Netscape Communicator, select Edit > Preferences from the Netscape menu, then click on the sign next to Advanced in the Category window; select the cache entry, then press the Clear Disk Cache button.

This method will not cause you to lose any of your cookies.

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Posted by Josephine of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on April 15, 2001

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