Re: Can't find message

Hi Pete,

Content.IE5 is not visible from Windows Explorer, it doesn't matter what
settings you have set, you have to sneak up on it.

According to PA Bear and Frank Saunders, "Smoke and mirrors."

Temporary Internet Files folder is a Virtual Folder and a Namespace object.
Has something to do with being a shell folder with its own GUID. I don't
understand half of this. Anyway, moving along.

Temporary Internet Files folders are Special Folders, like My Documents, My
Music, My Computer, Recycle Bin, et cetera. Part of what makes them special
is the GUID or Globally Unique Identifier. These are found in the registry,
where the GUID is the identifier for the special folder. They are found
here: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID. The GUID for Temporary Internet Files is
{7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}.

Part of this is because of the desktop.ini file.

Most Temporary Internet Files folders are Hidden and classified as system
files. They are hidden from Windows Explorer and Search. The device used
to hide them is the desktop.ini file. The desktop.ini signals that they are
system files, hidden and if deleted, they are recreated on the next boot.
To find them, you have to discover them by accident or know where to look.

The Desktop.ini file is a text file that specifies how a file system folder
will be viewed and handled.

Some info on Desktop.ini files pieced together from many sources...

File system folders are commonly displayed with a standard icon and set of
properties, which specify, for instance, whether or not the folder is
shared. The Desktop.ini file is a text file that specifies how a file
system folder will be viewed and handled. The most common use of the
Desktop.ini file is to assign a custom icon to a folder.

The desktop.ini can have info that lists the folder as a system file, hidden
and if deleted, it is recreated on the next boot. The desktop.ini can also
have info like a UICLSID line that hides the folder in Windows Explorer. And
a CLSID line that disables the Search utility from searching through the
folder.

Also the folder name info can be listed in the desktop.ini. For example,
the folder Shared Documents becomes just Documents if you remove the
desktop.ini.
-----

I have a shortcut to Content.IE5.
C:\DOCUME~1\WESLEY~1.VOG\LOCALS~1\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
-----

To view:
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

Start | Run | Type: inetcpl.cpl | OK
Or right click the Internet Explorer icon on your Desktop.
Or: Start | Settings | Control Panel | Internet Options.
General tab | Settings button | View Files button

Or...

Start | Run | Paste this in the box:

paste %homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

Click OK.

To view:
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5 AND \Content.MSO

Start | Run | Type: cleanmgr | OK | Highlight Temporary Internet Files |
View Files button

Or...

Start | Run | Type: %tmp% | OK |

You will probably have to click the Folders button on the Tool Bar.
Click: [+] Temporary Internet Files
Click: [+] Content.IE5
Click: Random named folders
View
You can also view Content.MSO

Or...

Start | Run | Paste this in the box:

%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5

Click OK.
You can also view Content.MSO

Or...
Start | Run | Paste this in the box:

%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.MSO

Click OK.

Note: Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) will *not* clean:
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5

I don't know why you can view the Content.IE5 folder with Disk Cleanup but
it won't clean the folder.

According to David Candy, this isn't true. This has to do with...
Safely delete access time stored here (7 is days):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\VolumeCaches\Temporary Files\
Value Name: LastAccess
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 7

As far as I'm concerned 7 days is too long. I suppose I could change it to
1, but I'm not worried about it, because I use Disk Cleaner.

Clear the Temporary Internet Files using the Windows XP Disk Cleanup utility
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/clearxptif.htm

-----

I use Disk Cleaner to clean out most everything on my machine along with a
batch file or two.

I have Disk Cleaner set to run quiet at startup. Runs for 5 seconds or so
and exits. I also like the fact that, after you set it up, it cleans all
the following with one click (and/or automatically at boot). Makes XP's
Disk Cleanup look like a piker. XP's Disk Cleanup will *not* clean
Content.IE5.

Disk Cleaner will Clean:
Temporary Internet Files {Including the contents of the Content.IE5 folder}
Internet Cookies
Internet History
System Temporary Folder
Recent Documents
Run... Dialog List
Find Document List
Find Computer List
URLs in IE Address Bar
URLs in Shell Address Bar
Media Player Recent URLs
WinZip Recent Files
WinZip Extract To Folders
Paint Recent Files
WordPad Recent Files
Cleans Recycle Bin (what else?)
Opera Cache
Opera Cookies
Opera History
Opera Visited links
Opera Download History and Download folder
Firefox Cache
Firefox Cookies
Firefox History

Disk Cleaner
http://www.xs4all.nl/~mp2004/

-----

To clean out *all* Temporary Internet Files.....
1) Start | Run | Type: inetcpl.cpl | OK
Or right click the Internet Explorer icon on your Desktop.
Or: Start | Settings | Control Panel | Internet Options.
Best to do this with all instances of Internet Explorer closed. Especially
if there are a large number of files.
2) On the General Tab, in the middle of the screen, click on Delete Files
3) Check the box ? Delete all offline content {This cleans >>
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files AND
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
4) Click on OK and wait for the hourglass icon to stop after it deletes the
temporary internet files
5) You can now click on Delete Cookies and click OK to delete cookies that
websites have placed on your hard drive.

If you want, try this: Open IE | Tools | Internet Options | Advanced tab |
scroll down to the bottom | check: Empty Temporary Internet Files folder
when browser is closed | click Apply | OK. Entirely up to you, but if you
want to be rid of this, it is done automatically. Deletes the content of
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files but not the Content.IE5 or Content.MSO folders.

Also: Start IE | Tools | Internet Options | General tab | Days to keep
pages in history: 0 | Apply | OK.
-----

Even with all this cleaned out
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
can still show that it is pretty good sized.

I just cleaned mine and it is 224 KB. That's because the index.dat file is
224 KB.

%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat

I use a batch file to delete that index.dat file when I reboot.

Side note:
Most index.dat files get recreated if they are deleted.

%windir%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\OfflineCache\index.dat.

This index.dat does not get recreated. The loss of this particular file
will
cripple System Information (msinfo32.exe). This index.dat actually does
something besides growing to a huge size.
-----

Content.IE5 contains all kinds of things. Files generated by Help and
Support Center and Outlook Express, for example.

[[Note: when viewing Newsgroup messages Outlook Express dumps a series of
zero-byte files into the TIF. When Outlook Express is closed it fails to
cleanup these files. To delete these zero-byte files you must select the
option "Delete all offline files".]]

From...
Internet Explorer Tips and Tricks
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/ietips.htm

[[Outlook Express 5.5 and 6 place a zero byte file in TIF for every message
that you read. These files are only visible from Start | Find | Files or
Folders, not from Windows Explorer. ]]

[[The easy way to get rid of them if you use OE 5.5 or 6 is to open Internet
Explorer and go to Tools | Internet Options. In the Temporary Internet Files
Section choose "Delete files". In the next dialogue check the box for
"Delete all offline content" and click "OK".]]

From...
CA* files in TIF
http://www.fjsmjs.com/OE/CA.htm

-----

Outlook Express creates a zero byte file for every message read. Plus
wbk**.tmp files when messages are read. Plus wbk**.tmp files when you Save
a message that you're working on, every time you hit Save.

The zero byte files have names like [1] or [14]. The files are created in
Content.IE5 subfolders.

Examples...
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\1EXPNXVB\[14]
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\GC1GM403\[54]
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\LJTLPTXJ\[25]
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\NU1KF7TX\[12]

The wbk**.tmp files have names like wbk118.tmp or wbkE5.tmp The files are
created in Content.IE5 subfolders.

Examples...
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\GC1GM403\wbk118.tmp
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\GC1GM403\wbkC1.tmp
-----

Once in a while you see posts by real Microsoft employees.

Nobody will fess up to nominating me. I asked my lead and I asked around.

I belong to some private MVP lists and once in a while I see someone asking
if nominating so-and-so is a good idea and does anyone disagree. Microsoft
also has people that monitor the newsgroups and they nominate people also.
-----

Well this post is 11KB, I hope I covered everything. If not, Start a new
thread.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:O4FAioijFHA.3316@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Pete <petesworkshop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
> Thanks Wes...see inline comments below...Pete
>
> Well, thank you for reading my post. I have some good ones coming up
> that I think may interest you. One of them is on the "dreaded" invisible
> (and I have show hidden files checked, and hide protected system files
> unchecked) folder "content.ie5" (its one of seven folders with the same
> title - the other six visible), and it has a lot of crap in 8 subfolders
> that I consider useless). I have XPsp2, home edition.
>
> I stumbled on to it by accident by right clicking its parent folder
> (TIF's - which was empty after clearing cache), and I did a properties
> and saw 10 subfolders and a whole bunch of files, and said HUH? My Irfan
> thumbnails will show it in it's directory tree, but windows explorer
> won't (another Bill Gates first - lol - microsoft likes to hide stuff).
> It was visible in millenium, but not in XP. The only way you can get it
> to show in windows explorer is to type its full path name in the address
> bar. It is quite involved, and I struck out in another site. It will
> take me some time to compose my post since I ran out of steam with the
> other group, but it will be coming. Damn it, I didn't want to start
> explaining it here...Pete
>
>
> Wes...Do the microsoft people ever respond to the posts...Pete
>
>
>
> Yours is older (lol).
>
>>
>
> Wes...I was a little familiar with the MS-MVP's, and went to the site you
> provided. Could you tell me a little more about the nominations (eg who
> nominated you). Who usually makes the nominations - the nominee's peers
> or microsoft (via monitoring newsgroups - I assume)...Pete
>

<snip>

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