Internet History

[pinnoccio]

Hi, i have a random question. if i look something up on my internet explorer can the internet history from my windows vista be traveled to my  dell laptop's history?

[Allan]

What?

[pinnoccio]

OK so lets say i looked up a website on my pc. can the internet history be traveled to my laptop

[Allan]

Of course not.

[rthompson80819]

There are dozens of web sites that synchronize bookmarks between different PCs but not history.

Google "synchronize bookmarks between pc and laptop" and take your pick.

[soybean]

Hi, i have a random question. if i look something up on my internet explorer can the internet history from my windows vista be traveled to my  dell laptop's history?

If the desire to do this does not arise too often, you could just email the link to the web page to yourself if you access your email with your laptop.

[Azzaboi]

Ignore the people that can't think outside a little square box.
Of course it's possible, just not that pratical or heard of...

Microsoft will try protect IE History and Temporary Internet Files, but you can find the files here:

Settings\<username>\Local Settings\History

Folder might be hidden. So do the "Show all folders" under "Folder Options"

You could copy that over, but not the easilest option and could be messy.

Microsoft IE also creates 'index.dat' files under the 'Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files' which contain all website history been browsed even if removed from the history list. IE does not delete these and even locks them. This is for FBI to snoop and can be search using special decryption tools. These are available, but not meant for the public. I believe there was a version of 'IEHistoryView' software which allowed this, but you might have to search around. Grab the data and tranfer it to your laptop.


So those options aren't the best for personal use and rather messy. I recommend instead saving the websites you want to your favourites list 'Add to Favourites'. Once in there, you can easily export the list.

In Internet Explorer, click Favorites, click the down-arrow next to Add to Favorites, and then click Import and Export.
Click Export to a file, and then click Next.
Click to select the Favorites check box, and then click Next.
Select the Favorites folder that you want to export. If you want to export all Favorites, select the top level Favorites folder. Otherwise, select the individual folder that you want to export.
Click Next.

Note By default, Internet Explorer creates a Bookmark.htm file in your Documents folder. If you want to use a name other than Bookmark.htm, or if you want to store the exported Favorites in a folder other than the Documents folder, specify the new file and folder name.
Click Next.

Note If you already have a file that has the same name, Internet Explorer asks you to replace it. Click Yes to replace the file. Click No to provide a new file name.
Click Export.
Click Finish.

Grab the Bookmark.htm and email or transfer it to the other computer, then import it.

In Internet Explorer, click Favorites, click the down-arrow next to Add to Favorites, and then click Import and Export.
Click Import from a file, and then click Next.
Click to select the Favorites check box, and then click Next.
By default, Internet Explorer creates a Bookmark.htm file in your Documents folder. However, you can import favorites that are saved under another name. To do this, click Browse, select a file or type a location and file name, and then click Next.
Select the folder where you want to put the imported bookmarks, and then click Import.
Click Finish.
 
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211089

... and like 'rthompson80819' there are also online synchronize bookmark tools available online to make it even easiler and automatic rather than export/import manual transfer.

[soybean]

IE does not delete these and even locks them.

IE deletes them after a set time.  This time, a number of days, can be set by the user.

[Azzaboi]

IE does not delete these and even locks them.

IE deletes them after a set time.  This time, a number of days, can be set by the user.

Your thinking of the history list (which yes can be set to a number of days), but not the index.dat files - they are never deleted unless you manually remove them or have a tool to wipe them. They are there for security reasons so the goverment can snoop down on you. For example: search warrent to check your computer for illegal child porn or software, etc. They can grab the image thumbnails and complete browser search history in a few seconds without it being tampered with.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322916

[kpac]

They are there for security reasons so the goverment can snoop down on you. For example: search warrent to check your computer for illegal child porn or software, etc. They can grab the image thumbnails and complete browser search history in a few seconds without it being tampered with.

Where do you get this stuff?

[Allan]

Where do you get this stuff?

He either just makes stuff up hoping nobody will know better, or he Googles problems, finds answers (which he mostly does not understand) and quotes those answers out of context. Best ignored, as I've been trying to do with him - though it's admittedly not easy at times. Especially when he misleads people who don't know any better.

[BC_Programmer]

This is for FBI to snoop and can be search using special decryption tools.

roflmao....

index.dat contains an index. the index refers to other files. these other files have otherwise randomly decided names.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322916

the KB article in question says that the file is never resized or deleted. I don't see the relevance, since it doesn't really contain anything useful to begin with. It's an index. It doesn't even contain any URLs.


Without those other files, the "history" that index.dat has is basically just a list of files and dates. oh, scary. Not sure where decryption comes in, since the files aren't encrypted anyway. Not sure how exporting favourites has anything to do with the history list, either.

In order to test this I downloaded IE history viewer (http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iehv.html). Even with my lax usage the history was rather large.

So I cleared the history from IE and refreshed the page. All that remained was a few folder references, created by the open explorer windows I had.

If this information remained in index.dat, why did it disappear?

In either case it's irrelevant. The question was this:

if i look something up on my internet explorer can the internet history from my windows vista be traveled to my  dell laptop's history?

And the answer is this:

Of course not.

That's it. period. Sure, you can access the history files from the laptop if the desktop drive is shared, and you can copy index.dat, but you're not accessing the internet history through internet explorer, you're accessing them through multiple layers of indirection. It's like somebody asking "can I get into the banks vault" and responding "yeah, it's easy, you just need to work at the bank and be trusted with the vault security information".

[Azzaboi]

Er still better than your answers Allan...
And I quote from this post and others "What?"... "Of course not.".. "Just do what I say"... etc... etc...

ps. Remove that American flag, you wonder why people hate America. Up tight about anybody that doesn't agree or says something outside your small world. They have freedom of 'selective' speach, you can say anything so long they agree with it, woohoo!

And for your information, I read stuff and learn security related computer stuff (photograph memory so I can recall most), the gaps I full in by verifying with google. I'm not saying I'm perfect and yes I could get thinks wrong, but Index.dat files have been around since IE 4.0 and up. People have created privacy programs just designed to view or wipe them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index.dat

Microsoft locks this file from deletion for a reason.

"Internet privacy groups contend that the use of index.dat files in the Windows operating system is an invasion of privacy. One of their main complaints is that the index.dat files cannot be deleted or erased easily, because they are always open when Windows is running. Open or "locked" files cannot be deleted in any way when the process using them is running. Also, when this file grows larger, degraded web performance will occur.

Another contention is that the operating system gives a false sense of security. Even after the user has cleared the internet cache folder, there is no way to completely disable it, which means that the various index.dat files on Windows continue to store all the visited web addresses and cookies and some temporary files. Also, removing single entries from index.dat files, for example through Windows Explorer, will only remove them from the visual display by Windows Explorer, not from the file itself until the next cleanup."

BC_Programmer, yes it contains encrypted website URLs, image URLs, cookie data and more, an index of URLs is still all you need. Why take the files with you when they are there on the net anyways?

http://www.milincorporated.com/a_indexdat.html

Try it yourself, delete your history then view the index.dat.

http://www.acesoft.net/delete_index.dat_files.htm
http://www.acesoft.net/index.dat%20viewer/index.dat_viewer.htm

Next you will be telling me deleting a file actually wipes it off the hard drive, not just marking it as deleted and you can't recover it, lol! Ever heard of undelete programs? Everything data stays around, one way or another. Computers are personal data collectors, google probably knowns more about you than you even do.

You use Facebook? FBI brought out a large chunk of that too $50k, so they can gather personal data and also employ new members. What do you think they do, sit around all day? They do I pretty good job at their work by snooping around data if you ask me.

Think what you will, I just say it as it is... the other reason I brought it up is it's another way of viewing the history.

The easy option would be using the favourites and export/import them, as I said above, rather than going though all this.

[BC_Programmer]

Anti-american Terrorist chant

Wow. you so totally proved him wrong by making assumptions about the state of the country he is in. that was so totally cool.

Index.dat files have been around since IE 4.0 and up.

nobody is debating this. it's redundant.

People have created privacy programs just designed to view or wipe them.

people have created all sorts of things. including a false sense of intelligence.

Microsoft locks this file from deletion for a reason.

Actually, it doesn't lock it at all. I just deleted all the index.dat files on my drive with no ill effects.

"Internet privacy groups contend that the use of index.dat files in the Windows operating system is an invasion of privacy. One of their main complaints is that the index.dat files cannot be deleted or erased easily, because they are always open when Windows is running. Open or "locked" files cannot be deleted in any way when the process using them is running. Also, when this file grows larger, degraded web performance will occur.

are these the same paranoid goofballs who wanted to sue Microsoft for putting MSCREATE.DIR files all over their install directories?

Another contention is that the operating system gives a false sense of security. Even after the user has cleared the internet cache folder, there is no way to completely disable it, which means that the various index.dat files on Windows continue to store all the visited web addresses and cookies and some temporary files. Also, removing single entries from index.dat files, for example through Windows Explorer, will only remove them from the visual display by Windows Explorer, not from the file itself until the next cleanup."

False.

BC_Programmer, yes it contains encrypted website URLs, image URLs, cookie data and more, an index of URLs is still all you need. Why take the files with you when they are there on the net anyways?

It's not encrypted.

Each Index.dat is located, as you may notice, within a folder. for example, cookies, history.

it's an INDEX INTO THE COOKIES OR HISTORY, ok? it doesn't contain anything useful. it just contains a dates and times and references to the other files in that same folder, which are deleted when the history is cleared. index.dat remains. yes. But it contains nothing useful.

http://www.milincorporated.com/a_indexdat.html

my user profile on this machine and every other machine Or Virtual machine I tested running Vista or 7 contained a "local" folder, or a "roaming" folder.

But it's OK! I can get rid of my index.dat woes by buying the full version of their product!

Try it yourself, delete your history then view the index.dat.

http://www.acesoft.net/delete_index.dat_files.htm
http://www.acesoft.net/index.dat%20viewer/index.dat_viewer.htm

sure.



OMG! it has records! scary! but considering I had Visual Studio 2008 and Flash 8 open and they both use the webbrowser control it's hardly a surprise. Of course if I was a complete lunatic I might think otherwise.

Next you will be telling me deleting a file actually wipes it off the hard drive, not just marking it as deleted and you can't recover it, lol!

Here's a word of advice: don't become a psychic. you don't have any gifts in clairvoyance of the future.

Ever heard of undelete programs?

Yes.

Everything data stays around, one way or another.

Until it's overwritten.

Computers are personal data collectors

it only knows what you put into it.

google probably knowns more about you than you even do.

No it doesn't.

You use Facebook?

No.

FBI brought out a large chunk of that too $50k

facebook is judged as being worth 15 billion dollars, or thereabouts. 50,000 of 15,000,000,000 can hardly be called a "large chunk".

so they can gather personal data

I highly doubt they need facebook for that. Ever heard of income tax returns and the yearly census? Yeah, that stuff probably tells them all the "personal details" they could need.

and also employ new members.

Yeah I heard snoopyfan118 just got a job as an FBI agent after reporting some anti-government posts on one of his friends walls.

What do you think they do, sit around all day?

Of course not. but realize that your theory that they decrypt megabytes worth of data from a 32k file sorta means they spend most of their time using thier "decryption tools" to find out that ScoobyLover415 is really a 40-year old stay at home mom. yeah that's certainly productive.

They do I pretty good job at their work by snooping around data if you ask me.

Again, self-contradiction! are they sitting around all day snooping around in data or not? your previous allusion was negative, you asked the rhetorical "what do you think they do, sit around all day" as if the answer was obviously no, and then claim that they do. Now I'm simply confused. Either way, You really need to stop hanging around Dead_reckon.

Think what you will, I just say it as it is...

No, you do a quick google and go with the first few results. this is pretty clear since a google of most things of this nature will bring up links for trialware to remove it, or something of that nature.

The easy option would be using the favourites and export/import them, as I said above, rather than going though all this.

favourites != history. I stated that before.

[BC_Programmer]

REAL information about index.dat:

http://blogs.msdn.com/wndp/archive/2006/08/04/WinInet_Index_dat.aspx

Q&A:
http://blogs.msdn.com/wndp/archive/2006/08/07/WinInet_Index_dat_Q_and_A.aspx

Do not be mislead by the nonsense posted above by the member who shall remain unnamed.