Deleting a web address from the Address Bar History

[batvanio]

Hi,
I cannot delete an existing web address from my IE address bar history
(the address is something like http://www.tomshardware.com/....)

I tried the folowing:
- Clearing the history from Tools-Internet Options-General Tab
- Deleting files(incl. offline content), Deleting cookies
- Tools-Internet Options-Content tab - Autocomplete - Clearing forms
and passwords
- Clearing the history from Tools-Internet Options-General Tab -
Temporary internet files - settings - Viewed all objects and files -
Not there!
- Deleted the registry entry HKEY_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\TypedURLs
- Deleted all Index.dat files from mu user folder under Documents and
Settings
- Searched the registry for the URL - not there!
- Searched the disks for the URL - not there!
- Searched all my files content for the URL - not there! (must be
encrypted or compressed)

Nothing helps and I ran out of options. Any idea anyone?

Thanks,
Ivan

 

[Alan Edwards]

In what operating system?

This used to apply in Win9x but I don't have the same Registry key in
XP:

AutoComplete, Web Addresses:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System
Provider\<user name or windows logon name>

....Alan

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

Hi,
I cannot delete an existing web address from my IE address bar history
(the address is something like http://www.tomshardware.com/....)

I tried the folowing:
- Clearing the history from Tools-Internet Options-General Tab
- Deleting files(incl. offline content), Deleting cookies
- Tools-Internet Options-Content tab - Autocomplete - Clearing forms
and passwords
- Clearing the history from Tools-Internet Options-General Tab -

That was a good idea. We suspect that when it is reinitialized that
the History may be seeded with URLs from those sources.
Also I suspect the URLs from some Favorites get the same treatment.

You can check if the reinitialized History contains the problem URLs
by navigating to its History.IE5 folder (e.g. in a cmd window) and entering:

find /i "Visited:" index.dat

If you find it there the usual suggestion is to *delete* the History
folder from another account with administrative authority.
E.g. that may avoid the possibility of the History being reinitialized
by the Clear History command. Note: a new History folder *will* be
created the next time the user opens IE but it is hoped that the
same initialization that the Clear History command did won't be redone.

Temporary internet files - settings - Viewed all objects and files -
Not there!

AFAIK AutoSuggest doesn't use the TIF as a source for its entries.

- Deleted the registry entry HKEY_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\TypedURLs
- Deleted all Index.dat files from mu user folder under Documents and
Settings
- Searched the registry for the URL - not there!

Unfortunately, RegEdit would not enable you to find entries which
are either encrypted or even just represented by binary strings,
especially if they are coded as doublebyte characters.

- Searched the disks for the URL - not there!
- Searched all my files content for the URL - not there! (must be
encrypted or compressed)

Same problem with that approach. Search Companion only looks for
plain text (e.g. ASCII) not doublebyte strings.

Tip: one way to find doublebyte strings is to use findstr /s /m /i
and take advantage of its regular expression pattern feature
to look for strings which would mostly likely be such doublebyte strings.
E.g. to list all files which contain a doublebyte instance of the word text
under the current directory enter (in a cmd window):

findstr /s /m /i ".t.e.x.t" *.*

Hint: you won't find stuff in files which are protected
unless you make copies of them or unprotect them.

Nothing helps and I ran out of options. Any idea anyone?

Besides the above modifications to what you have already tried
if the source is the registry you could use RegMon to trace
IE's accesses and then do finds in the RegMon trace.
E.g. even if the data being accessed is represented as binary
values or doublebyte strings it may appear in the trace as
character data and therefore be more readable and more findable.

Thanks,
Ivan

Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
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