This useful little tool will dump URLs and Web Addresses found in INDEX.DAT. If you are not familiar with this file and you use Microsoft Internet Explorer then you may be in for a shock.

INDEX.DAT is used by Windows to manage your web file cache. You'll be surprised by what you can find in this file - even after you have cleared your cache and history it will persist in keeping your whole browsing, emailing and document history. Many washing programs won't clear it and it can't be deleted using the normal methods as it's permanently locked open by the SYSTEM user.

How does Indexdat-ZAP work?

Indexdat-ZAP is a Windows program. After downloading it into a temporary directory, unzip it and the program is ready. It's a single executable file you can place anywhere. Drag and drop it onto your Desktop to make it easy to find.

There is only one button you need to know about - "Scan". Let scan run for a few seconds or minutes (depending on your machine speed and number of files). Indexdat-ZAP will hunt down all occurrences of index.dat and check the contents to see if it contains cache information. You'll get a list of all the files it's found. Double click on any file to see the web links or other information stored in that file. Indexdat-ZAP creates a temporary text file in the root of the C: drive and then opens notepad to display the contents. You can print or save this information from there. The temporary file is automatically deleted when you exit the program.

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