MAP
April 30th 04, 07:22 AM
>-----Original Message-----
>I believe I have some cookies/spy ware on my computer.
I
>have elimated most of them, I think. In order to do
that
>I have ended all nonessential processes in the task
>manager, then typed %temp% on the my computer address
bar
>then deleted. I also have searched for cookie/temporary
>internet files in the search function and deleted them
as
>well. I have even started the computer in safe mode and
>done all these things. However, my problem is that
there
>is always one index.dat file that I cannot delete no
>matter what. I believe the last of my nasties are in
>it. What do I do?
>
>On a side note I have noticed when I don't run in safe
>mode three processes cannot be stopped. They are
>SAVSCAN, BttnServ, and NAVAPSVC. What are these and can
>I stop them?
>
>Thank you so much for your help. I barely know what I'm
>doing.
>
>toby
>.
>
Index.dat is a required folder and yes it does keep a log
on where you have been.
Here is a link for a free viewer to see whats in this
folder.
http://www.acesoft.net/winspy/index.dat%
20viewer/index.dat_viewer.htm
From www.spywareinfo.com
A question people ask me all the time is "Why can't I
delete the 'Temporary Internet Files', History or Cookies
folders?". The reason these folders are difficult to
delete is because there is one file being held open in
memory, index.dat. A file in use cannot be deleted so,
whenever someone tries to delete those folders, Windows
pops up an obnoxious error about a file being in use.
On a computer with Internet Explorer 4, 5 or 6 installed,
the index.dat file in the "Temporary Internet Files" and
Cookies folders points Windows at the proper files within
Internet Explorer's cache folders so that it can access
them faster. The file in the History folder is a
collection of URL entries used for AutoComplete and for
deciding if you already have visited a page being linked
on another page.
The index.dat files in all three locations contain the
address of the web site associated with the file or
entry. The file in the History folder also includes the
date and time stamps on which they were last accessed and
how many times you have visited. [reference
<http://www.purgeie.com/indexdat.htm>]
It is possible for someone with access to the computer to
piece together a very detailed log of your web surfing
activities using these index.dat files. Check out this
screenshot
<http://www.spywareinfo.com/images/misc/index_text_scan.pn
g> to see what I mean.
Since Microsoft has embedded their Internet Explorer
browser directly into the operating system itself, the
index.dat files are always in memory. This makes it
nearly impossible to delete the folders in question and
clean up computer usage history.
Some people <http://www.microsuck.com/content/ms-hidden-
files.shtml> believe there is a conspiracy at M$
headquarters to hide these files from you and make them
impossible to delete. Personally, I believe it was bad
design and poor communications between separate groups of
programmers. Certainly this is not unheard of in Redmond.
Despite Microsoft's bad design (or malicious intent,
depending on the thickness of your tin foil beanie
<http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=28>), these
files actually can be deleted using a couple of different
methods.
Be aware that you may lose your cookies if you delete
the "Temporary Internet Files" folder and you definitely
will lose them if you delete the cookies folder. If you
have cookies you wish to save, before doing any of this,
delete all of your other cookies from the cookies folder,
then use the export wizard to save them. The
import/export wizard is located under Internet Explorer's
File menu.
If your computer runs on Windows NT, 2000 or XP, this is
very easy. You simply log out of your normal account and
into an account with administrator privileges. Create a
new administrator account from Control Panel > Users if
you have to do so.
Navigate to the folder locations using Windows Explorer
and simply delete them. Since you are not logged into
those accounts, Windows is not using them and they can be
deleted normally. The next time you log on, Windows will
try to open the index.dat files, find they are missing
and recreate them and their folders from a default
template.
In Windows NT, 2000 and XP, the folders are located in
these locations:
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Cookies\
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local
Settings\History\
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\
>I believe I have some cookies/spy ware on my computer.
I
>have elimated most of them, I think. In order to do
that
>I have ended all nonessential processes in the task
>manager, then typed %temp% on the my computer address
bar
>then deleted. I also have searched for cookie/temporary
>internet files in the search function and deleted them
as
>well. I have even started the computer in safe mode and
>done all these things. However, my problem is that
there
>is always one index.dat file that I cannot delete no
>matter what. I believe the last of my nasties are in
>it. What do I do?
>
>On a side note I have noticed when I don't run in safe
>mode three processes cannot be stopped. They are
>SAVSCAN, BttnServ, and NAVAPSVC. What are these and can
>I stop them?
>
>Thank you so much for your help. I barely know what I'm
>doing.
>
>toby
>.
>
Index.dat is a required folder and yes it does keep a log
on where you have been.
Here is a link for a free viewer to see whats in this
folder.
http://www.acesoft.net/winspy/index.dat%
20viewer/index.dat_viewer.htm
From www.spywareinfo.com
A question people ask me all the time is "Why can't I
delete the 'Temporary Internet Files', History or Cookies
folders?". The reason these folders are difficult to
delete is because there is one file being held open in
memory, index.dat. A file in use cannot be deleted so,
whenever someone tries to delete those folders, Windows
pops up an obnoxious error about a file being in use.
On a computer with Internet Explorer 4, 5 or 6 installed,
the index.dat file in the "Temporary Internet Files" and
Cookies folders points Windows at the proper files within
Internet Explorer's cache folders so that it can access
them faster. The file in the History folder is a
collection of URL entries used for AutoComplete and for
deciding if you already have visited a page being linked
on another page.
The index.dat files in all three locations contain the
address of the web site associated with the file or
entry. The file in the History folder also includes the
date and time stamps on which they were last accessed and
how many times you have visited. [reference
<http://www.purgeie.com/indexdat.htm>]
It is possible for someone with access to the computer to
piece together a very detailed log of your web surfing
activities using these index.dat files. Check out this
screenshot
<http://www.spywareinfo.com/images/misc/index_text_scan.pn
g> to see what I mean.
Since Microsoft has embedded their Internet Explorer
browser directly into the operating system itself, the
index.dat files are always in memory. This makes it
nearly impossible to delete the folders in question and
clean up computer usage history.
Some people <http://www.microsuck.com/content/ms-hidden-
files.shtml> believe there is a conspiracy at M$
headquarters to hide these files from you and make them
impossible to delete. Personally, I believe it was bad
design and poor communications between separate groups of
programmers. Certainly this is not unheard of in Redmond.
Despite Microsoft's bad design (or malicious intent,
depending on the thickness of your tin foil beanie
<http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=28>), these
files actually can be deleted using a couple of different
methods.
Be aware that you may lose your cookies if you delete
the "Temporary Internet Files" folder and you definitely
will lose them if you delete the cookies folder. If you
have cookies you wish to save, before doing any of this,
delete all of your other cookies from the cookies folder,
then use the export wizard to save them. The
import/export wizard is located under Internet Explorer's
File menu.
If your computer runs on Windows NT, 2000 or XP, this is
very easy. You simply log out of your normal account and
into an account with administrator privileges. Create a
new administrator account from Control Panel > Users if
you have to do so.
Navigate to the folder locations using Windows Explorer
and simply delete them. Since you are not logged into
those accounts, Windows is not using them and they can be
deleted normally. The next time you log on, Windows will
try to open the index.dat files, find they are missing
and recreate them and their folders from a default
template.
In Windows NT, 2000 and XP, the folders are located in
these locations:
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Cookies\
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local
Settings\History\
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\