 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Windows Forum / Windows XP / New Users / May 2007Why can't I delete some History entries?
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.  SignatureGlen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+ http://dts-l.org/ http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm > 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 [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Ben 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 > Glen: > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > you think that they would all just delete? Almost all will. Why would a few > (mostly .jpg, .w & .htm) not be deletable? 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? SignatureGlen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+ http://dts-l.org/ http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm 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 > 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 [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > What happens when you try to delete the undeletables? Do you get an error message? 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 > Glen: > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Ben 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 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 > Hi Ben, > Mostly because they are Read-Only attributes been set to them or the system [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > nass > nasstec.co.uk 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] > 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 [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Ben 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 > Possible workaround... > IEHistoryView from http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iehv.html Use "Find" in [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Don > [MS MVP- IE] You're welcome. Glad it's doing the job for you. Don [MS MVP- IE] > Don: > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Ben > > 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. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.