My XP system has several hundred folders with the name MSHISTnnnnnnnnnn each with one file in it named Index.dat
These folders are stored in a file path ending in .....\History\History.IE5\MSHISTnnnnnnnnnn

What are these things?
Are they needed? Can I delete them safely?

Firefox is my browser of choice but once in a while I use IE (or IE Tab in Firefox).

Thanks,
Larry

PS: These folders and their contents are not a disk space issue. I've just been on a campaign to get rid of unneeded stuff.

Welcome to PC Help Forum

Here is some information for you on those files: The Internet Explorer Index.dat File in the History Folder May Become Very Large

Hengis, Thanks for the reply.

I think the article you pointed to is about a different index.dat file.
The ones I'm referring to are contained in a folder with a name like MSHISTnnnnnnn. And the index.dat files are small -- almost all are 32KB.

An example full path would be:

C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\MSHist012005113020051 201\index.dat

or

C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\MSHist012006092820060 929\index.dat

There is a big index.dat file in the IE cache -- I think that is the one that the article was referring to.

--Larry

I deleted over 300 of the MSHISTnnnnnnn folders and left them in the trash for a few days. No problems noted. So today I emptied the trash. I'll post back with an update sometime soon or if problems pop up.
--Larry

Hello,do you still need help with this,please post back if you do.

Thankyou.

JB.

I have experienced NO problems since deleting the folders and their contents.

As I recall I did not delete all such folders. But I can't remember what criteria I used to select the few I kept. Hmmmm..... That might have been something worthwhile to remember!

--Larry

Thankyou for posting back.Very much appreciated.

So all is well?That is great.

JB.