ljossberir
02-27-2004, 09:52 AM
Hi everyone. I have a question for you PC experts out there, I've stumbled across something by accident that confused me. I'm running XP home. Today, after defraging it listed some files that couldn't be defraged. Among these were 2 with a path like:
C:\Windows\System32\shelldata\cfg\
Well, I was curious to see what these were, as a couple mentioned websites I had been to (but not in like six months!) So, I went into explorer and checked it out. Lo and behold I found 3 folders in that path, 2 of which had various dat files - with titles the same as websites I had visited long ago, as well as a couple I had visited recently. Besides that were a couple references to winamp files, and appz I opened.
Now, I'm using Window Washer, Spybot, and Purge IE Pro to get rid of leftover internet/misc clutter and remove spyware. I use these regularly. This is why I was confused - how could windows have stored dat files revealing my browsing habits and things like that? Would not these programs have eliminated that stuff? Also, most of these dats seem to be random, from all different time periods and all different types of stuff. :helpsmile: Can anyone explain to me what these files are, and what I should know about them?
Thanks!
C:\Windows\System32\shelldata\cfg\
Well, I was curious to see what these were, as a couple mentioned websites I had been to (but not in like six months!) So, I went into explorer and checked it out. Lo and behold I found 3 folders in that path, 2 of which had various dat files - with titles the same as websites I had visited long ago, as well as a couple I had visited recently. Besides that were a couple references to winamp files, and appz I opened.
Now, I'm using Window Washer, Spybot, and Purge IE Pro to get rid of leftover internet/misc clutter and remove spyware. I use these regularly. This is why I was confused - how could windows have stored dat files revealing my browsing habits and things like that? Would not these programs have eliminated that stuff? Also, most of these dats seem to be random, from all different time periods and all different types of stuff. :helpsmile: Can anyone explain to me what these files are, and what I should know about them?
Thanks!