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Searching the history of my computer

Anonymous
2010-04-29T22:20:01+00:00

Hi, I am trying to look up history on my computer from in october and/or november of 2009 but when i go to the history view it only lets me go back 2 weks how can i access what i was doing on the computer back in those months, if there is no way to do this how can i at least look at the cookies.   I know that nothing is permantly deleted on your computer so there must be some way to look this up.  Thx for any help

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-04-29T22:29:47+00:00

    http://www.pcmesh.com/windows-vista-index.dat-1.htm

    Windows Vista and index.dat files

    http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2007/03/26/view-examine-and-delete-indexdat-contents/

    View, Examine and Delete INDEX.DAT Contents

    http://www.purgeie.com/indexdat.htm

    The info at the above links will assist you.

    Cheers.


    Mick Murphy - Microsoft Partner

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-04-29T22:41:57+00:00

    Do you mean on the computer or in Internet Explorer?  If Internet Explorer, here's where cookies, history and a number of other files are stored: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/05/26/vista-ie7-cache-cookies-folder-temp-directory-and-history-location/.  You will need to make sure you can see hidden files.  Go to Start / Control Panel / Folder Options / View and check the box to show hidden files.  Click OK ad then exit.

    You can change the number of days of history you want to store on your system (In the Tools / Internet Options / Browsing History Settings dialog box.  I'm not certain if there's a maximum (I haven't tried running up the scrolling bar to see how far I can get) - but you can't recover events that have already passed that are not shown in the history folder.  The thing is, these things (history items) are not actually files so they are not recoverable with standard recovery tools.  I do not believe they can be recovered unless you want to try a computer data recovery expert who will offer no guarantees and charge you a fortune (if even that technicia thiks it's possible)..

    If you're talking about your activities on the system as a whole, this is not stored though there are 3rd party programs that will do this to varying degrees.  You can check for Computer History in Bing, Google, www.tucows.om, and www.download.om for options.  If you don't get many try a different search name (I can't think of any others at the moment).

    I hope thi helps and I'm sorry there isn't any way (except maybe the data recovery technician) to recovery the browsing history beyond what is available in the folder (which comes from the files indicated in the first paragraph).

    Good luck!


    Lorien - MCSE/MCSA/Network+/A+ --- If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-10-09T08:09:57+00:00

    How do I find my history of ordering products over the internet in the last 2 months?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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