mikemqa

The folders and their contents are sent to the Recycle Bin, then I empty the Recycle Bin. I check the contents only by checking Properties and seeing the # of KB or MB and counting the files. Then, of course, when you re-boot, Windows re-creates the new (empty) files again and starts new index.dat enties.

The *Run As* option didn't do the trick either. Details: As stated above, I can't get CCleaner to delete index.dat files in a Limited User acct in WinXP/Home. So I logged on as the Limited User, but this time I left-clicked once on the CCleaner icon (on the Desktop), right-clicked on Run As, The Following User:, then I entered the Administrator's name and PW. Then I ran CCleaner (from the Desktop of the Limited User, and assuming the Limited User had Administrator priviledges). But then CCleaner listed and deleted only files from the Admin Acct, just as if I had logged on as the Admin from the Admin account. (That is, none of the Limited User files were listed or deleted.) CCleaner is a neat program and I really like it, but I'm trying to get it to clean out my Limited User accts. fyi --Mike

Yes, that must be what's going on (a Limited User can't cause the registry to be modified). As is good practice (against malware vulnerability), I only use a Limited Account for everyday Internet surfing (like right now), not an Admin account. Seems like this is a bug or limitation, that is, with CCleaner? It would be nice to have more flexibility in specifying user status, or to let an Admin account tell CCleaner to clean user-specified Limited User accts. I can use CCleaner to clean out everything else (History, logs, etc.), and the Admin acct used for important but limited downloads/updates. And I am happy to have CCleaner (esp for free). As you suggest, I will experiment with ways to get better use from it. As it is, I log in as an Admin acct, Search All Files/Folders for index.dat files (including Hidden), then selectively delete those in my Limited User accts, then empty the Recycle Bin. That works, but is quite tedius. Thanks very much for your response. --Mike

Just confiming my original post above-- CCleaner does not delete the contents of the index.dat files in my Limited User accounts in WinXP/Home. (Details above.) --Mike

I do check the contents of each index.dat file before and after running CCleaner. (Actually, I make a folder-tree diagram, like Windows Explorer left pane, and then track the contents (KB, MB) of every file, before and after.) I suspect you are right about a Limited User not being able to modify the registry, and that's why CCleaner can't delete from such an account. That's probably what's going on here. Odd that more people aren't noticing this? Maybe most people don't bother to check. As is good practice, I try not to use the Admin acct for the Internet, and mainly use a Limited acct for that. So it's really important that CCleaner be able to clean such Limited User accts, I would think. I will play with the registry key and values you listed, to see if that yields some info. Thanks very much for your detailed ideas here! --Mike

CCleaner does not delete the index.dat files in my Limited User accounts. On my last scan, it failed to delete more than 2 MB of index.dat files in Cookies, History, and TIF. Details: I have WinXP/Home and downloaded CCleaner a week ago. On my XP system I have 4 accounts, two are Administrative, and two are Limited Users. When I run CCleaner in a Limited User account, it finds everything, but fails to delete various index.dat files (although CCleaner does list them under Analyze as *Marked for Deletion.*). For the record, I run CCleaner from each of the four accounts. None of the four ways of doing this is successful in deleting the index.dat files in my two Limited User accounts. I have tested this very carefully. After running CCleaner, I close it, then Re-start my PC, then I log on as an Administrator (so that I have full access to files), I open Windows Explorer, Folder Options are selected to show ALL files (hidden and protected), and I check to see what CCleaner successfully found and deleted. Further details: the index.dat files that are NOT successfully deleted (even though CCleaner finds them and lists them in Analyze, Marked for Deletion), are in the following folders (in Local disk--Docs and Settings--<my user name>): --- the indx.dat in Cookies --- the index.dat in History.IE5 --- the index.dat in TIF--Content.IE5 One more detail: CCleaner does, however, successfully delete the MSHist#### files and its index.dat.

Thanks. This issue arose because of two items I read in the FAQ, pasted here: Does it clean all the user accounts on the computer or just the current one? At the moment CCleaner supports cleaning the current user's account only. This may change in a future release. Do I need to be an administrator to run this? Ideally yes. Although you can still run this as a normal or restricted user, however, some files may not be deleted. ---So this suggests that running it from the Limited User acct (which is the one I want to *clean*) might not fully do the trick. However, you are saying that it will, except for the registry cleaning? (And, from the FAQ, running it as the Admin won't accomplish what I want, which is to fully clean the Limited User acct.) --Mike

Well, I'm new here, heard about you at annoyances.org. I read the FAQ and have 2 questions. First Q: Does CCleaner, in fact, delete ALL references to all websites/URLs visited, mainly ALL Index.dat entries? Second Q: Deals with administrator vs User accounts. I've got WinXP/SP2/Home and IE 6.0. I have an Administrator account and a Limited User account in XP. I use the Limited User account for most of my web surfing and this is the account data (Index.dat) that I would mainly want to delete. (I only use the Admin account for quick, *important* downloads, updates from MS, Earthlink, etc.) My guess is that I would have to log in as the Limited User account, then run the CCleaner. BUT, will that then result in the actual DELETION of all my Limited User's website visits/URL data, TIF, History, Cookies, etc--and most importantly the Index.dat entries in the many places they occur for my Limited User account? If not, what would I do to get this done? Thanks, Mike