posted on March 27, 2001 07:30:44 AM
Morning Reddeer: What you been doing that you need the equivalent of a paper shredder attached to your disk that shreds as you go?
Actually this program is very popular in certain DC circles and I have been told it works very well. However keep in mind that this is one more program running in the background all of the time, and the more complicated you make the tasks that you computer must do, the more likely something can go wrong.
posted on March 27, 2001 07:47:38 AM
I would say try it and see what it does but I don't want any responsibility for even the possibility that it may do something to your system. Besides it seems to me that it is an extra and not worth the risk considering the technological nightmare you endured recently.
posted on March 27, 2001 08:48:51 AM
"Automatically cover your web surfing tracks immediately after you close your web browser!"
"Encrypt and overwrite your web surfing tracks 21 times (or more) so that no one can undelete or recover your web tracks! HistoryKill defeats forensic software used by the US Secret Service, Customs Department and LAPD!"
EXCEPT ... the ISP you use also has a copy of where you went in their system logs. It is possible to trace where you went and what files you viewed through this, but seldom done.
posted on March 28, 2001 02:11:15 PM
Interesting software! Thanks for the heads up. Does this one become inoperable after the 30 days or is it like shareware that you are supposed to register and pay for?
I like it, I'll probably register it and pay for it, but I'm just curious.
posted on March 30, 2001 04:52:11 PM
Ok, I downloaded this today & it's a very slick & easy to use software. My main concern was getting rid of the Temporary Internet Files on Netscape. Clearing your cache on Netscape doesn't accomplish much of anything.
Smw ........ You might want to give it a try? Blanche had posted a much smaller file that will work with IE, but it didn't seem to want to work for me using Netscape?
Toke ...... I know you use Netscape, and just for the heck of it have a look at your C Drive, Windows folder, Temporary Internet Files & see how many KB of useles crap is in there. I had 192 KB in mine.
It also clears off everything else you could imagine when you start up, or when you close your browser off.
Blanche also gave me a link to another program that will do pretty much the same thing, and as soon as I find it I'll post the link to that as well.
Pocono ........ If you see this, can you send me an email? I lost your addy last week when my HD took a dive. Thanks!
There may very well be a way to delete that folder without a program? But the beauty of the two programs above is they do all that & much more each time you close down your browser.
One click of the mouse & POOF, and all that worthless crap is deleted.
I believe that the way it works is, after deleting those directories, Windows automatically recreates them again (empty, of course). Sometimes, I even include the Cookies directory in my cleanup.
I'm hardly a computer geek myself, but just to give you an idea...
Whenever anyone at work wants to know how well something works with their computer, and they're not too sure about trying it out themselves, they'll come and ask me to do it because they know I'll try just about anything.
Sometimes, things work out fine, other times... well, you almost always learn something.
posted on March 30, 2001 07:46:25 PM
Here is an explanation of the Temporary Internet Files, History and Cookies directories that I found posted in the MS Internet Explorer forum on CompuServe. This is a little long, but I thought that maybe somebody would find it interesting.
The way that IE4/5 stores the TIF, History and Cookies files has been the subject of a lot of misunderstanding since before the final version of IE4 was released. This has been exacerbated by Microsoft because they have not posted a definitive explanation for this process to the general public. I believe that they have not done this because of the security issues that are involved.
I don't know how definitive this will be, but I do hope that it is clear.
The cache folder (Temporary Internet Files) is divided into 4 sub-folders in order to increase the speed and efficiency in storing what could be thousands of small files. In earlier versions of Internet Explorer, these sub-folders were named Cache1, Cache2, Cache3, and Cache4. It was discovered that a malicious hacker could execute a file stored in the cache if and only if he knew the exact path and filename of the file. Since the default location was C:\<Windows>\Temporary Internet Files, he only had to guess which of the 4 sub-folders his destructive file was in, or just try all 4 names. With IE4/5, the sub-folder names have been changed to random ones, in order to prevent this bug from being exploited. These files are given new random names whenever they are deleted and replaced.
The cache folder is not a normal Windows folder, such as those you create for your own files. It is rather a system folder with special attributes. That means that when you attempt to display the contents of the folder, Windows Explorer checks in the registry for the special system attributes for that folder, and displays it accordingly. Other system folders, all of which have special attributes in their displays, are Fonts, History, Cookies, Downloaded Program Files, Start Menu, and several others. Note that all 4 sub-folders of the cache are also system folders.
The special display attributes of the cache folder cause Windows Explorer to always show the full contents of the cache, whether you are displaying the top level folder (C:\<Windows>\Temporary Internet Files), or one of the 4 sub-folders with the strange names.
Each time the 4 TIF sub-folders reach approximately 25MB, a new group of 4 subfolders are created.
In addition, all of your saved cookies are always included in the cache display, (This is so that a web site can access this file from the cache, it cannot access the cookies folder directly) although they are actually stored in C:\<Windows>\Cookies. This feature of the cache display causes many users to think that there are multiple copies of the cookies on the hard disk. The cookie entry in the TIF folder is simply a "virtual Pointer" to the actual file. (To see this, delete one of the cookie files in the cookies folder, now go to the TIF folder and double click the corresponding cookie file to open it, you will get an error message that the file could not be found.) However, you can delete the cookie entry in the TIF and the corresponding cookie in the cookies folder will be deleted. If you do it this way, you will get a "confirm delete" message from the OS. It becomes even more complicated if your machine is configured for multiple users. Each user will have his own cache folder (C:\<Windows>\Users\<user-name>\Temporary Internet Files) and each will contain 4 randomly-named sub-folders. There will also be the normal cache folder. This could lead one to think that there are duplicates of the entire cache.
To understand how the cache is structured, it is necessary to see its contents outside of Windows. To do this, you can open a DOS window. When viewed from DOS, the top-level cache folder contains the 4 sub-folders, an index file (index.dat), but no Internet files. Each sub-folder contains different Internet files. Cookies are nowhere to be found, except in C:\<Windows>\Cookies, which also contains an index file. It is the index files that are used by Windows Explorer to keep track of which file is stored where, so that the Explorer view can be created. Note that C:\<Windows>\History also contains an index.dat. The index.dat files are not always displayed by Explorer, even if you have selected to View All Files which is another part of the security aspect of these folders.
So, when you delete the Temporary Internet Files, from within Internet Explorer your cookies will remain, since they are stored only in C:\<Windows>\Cookies. Also, because these folders are system folders, it is impossible to delete the folders themselves while running Windows. Sometimes the folders become corrupt, and must be deleted. To do so, you must boot to DOS and deltree the folders. They will be recreated the next time you start Windows, though they will, of course, be empty. Except for the new index.dat file.
Some users, while trying to figure out why these folders are set up like this, have taken the position that it is an insidious plot by Microsoft to somehow invade their privacy or overload the hard drive, when in reality it is just the opposite and it is very simple for the owner of the system to look at, change, or delete these folders and files in any manner they wish. The problem is that they try to approach this in exactly the same manner that this set up is designed to prevent.
Synopsis:
Cookies are only contained in the C:\Windows\Cookies folder.
The Temporary Internet Files folder and it's sub-folders contain the entire Internet Explorer Cache, except for "Virtual Pointers" to the cookies files. (IE5 has added the IE5 subfolder here)
The randomly named TIF subfolders contain randomly distributed files and "Virtual pointers" to the actual Cookies and TIF files.
posted on March 30, 2001 07:48:00 PM
mrpotatoheadd,
What you suggest is actually better than running a probably poorly written resource hog in the background, to do what can be done cleanly at every bootup.
However, I have it done automatically from autoexec.bat where I have lines like these:
I have hacked command.com and disabled the DEL command, so I use ERASE. DELTREE has been renamed DTREE on my system. And most of the other hazardous utilities like FORMAT have also been renamed to thwart most malicious trojans.
The above script kills most garbage files, spy files, and temp files. There is also a command that copies a bunch of dummy 1 byte spyware dlls back to /System to make certain programs think they are there.
posted on March 30, 2001 09:29:04 PM
Interesting stuff, but way beyond my capabilities. One of things I was worried about was that this software might be a resource hog, and it hasn't seemed to affect my system resources at all. My system is usually running between 75-80%.
Am I missing something? It's much easier for us non tech types to simply let a software designer come up with these fixes. At least it is for me.
posted on March 30, 2001 09:45:26 PM
I guess it all depends on what you're trying to do. If it is just getting rid of temporary internet files, you can probably get by with a simple batch file that you can run either automatically at startup or whenever you decide you want to do a cleanup. I imagine any software that does this would likely have other features that might be useful, too.
Sometimes, it is easier to just find a program to do what you want. I have an almost irresistable urge to tinker, though- I often end up fooling around with things that would probably be best left alone.
posted on March 30, 2001 10:29:49 PM
No, it wasn't just the Temp Internet Files I wanted to be dumped each day, it was the whole enchilada. History Kill is like it was custom designed for me.
Blanche sent me a batch file that ran in DOS, but for some unknown reason I couldn't get the little %#%@ to work?
Tinker is a word that isn't allowed near my computer.
