How do you explore Temporary Internet Files for real?

[Captain Jinks]

Windows XP doesn't want you to view what's really in your Internet
Explorer cache, the Temporary Internet Files folders. Does anyone know
how to permanently change XP so that I can see the real files not just
the list of cookies and a few other items which are merely links to the
websites that have been visited?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Open internet options,settings,view files.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Some Temporary Internet Files are hidden.

HOW TO: Search For Hidden Or System Files In Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302347&sd=tech

To display hidden files and folders
http://tinyurl.com/4lxxn

From XP HELP:
To display hidden files and folders
[[Open Folder Options in Control Panel.
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click Folder Options
On the View tab, under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and
folders]]

To view:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourNameHere\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

To view:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourNameHere\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: %TEMP% | 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
---------------

To clean out 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 >> C:\Documents
and Settings\YourNameHere\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files AND
C:\Documents and Settings\YourNameHere\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.

 

[Andrew Camfield]

Windows XP doesn't want you to view what's really in your Internet
Explorer cache, the Temporary Internet Files folders. Does anyone know
how to permanently change XP so that I can see the real files not just
the list of cookies and a few other items which are merely links to the
websites that have been visited?

Thanks

Cap,

If you change explorer to not automatically hide system and
hidden files, then you can navigate to the subdirectory under
C:\WINNT where those files are kept. I've looked through
that folder before and, if I remember correctly, you can
view the contents of some of those files, but they are not
typical files. They may be links to records in a database,
for instance. The registry is a database. When you use
regedit, you're editing fields in a table in a database.

Hope this helps,

Andy C.(never #)

 

[Captain Jinks]

Thanks for all the effort you went to. I'm well aware of all these
procedures but none will work to display the Temporary Internet Files
and its subfolders exactly as seen in a standard Windows Explorer mode.
This is a deliberate "feature" of Windows XP. However, the temporary
files are, in fact, stored in a conventional folder format but the
folders are treated as a unique form of system folder. I can browse the
Temporary Internet Files using ACDSee. One of the repairs available in
Tweak UI is to restore the standard (obfuscated) format of the Temporary
Internet Files should the "magic" be somehow disabled. What I want to do
is exactly the opposite. I want to have the Temporary Internet Files and
all the subfolders to appear as ordinary folders. They were treated that
way through Windows 95 and 98 and then with Me Microsoft decided to make
it nearly impossible to view the contents. Those folders contain
thousands of graphics files, html files, copies of programs that have
been downloaded, and much more. I find it valuable to be able to browse
those temporary files, which are temporary only if you manually delete
them yourself.

MBH

Some Temporary Internet Files are hidden.

HOW TO: Search For Hidden Or System Files In Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302347&sd=tech

To display hidden files and folders
http://tinyurl.com/4lxxn

From XP HELP:
To display hidden files and folders
[[Open Folder Options in Control Panel.
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click Folder Options
On the View tab, under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and
folders]]

To view:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourNameHere\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

To view:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourNameHere\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: %TEMP% | 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
---------------

To clean out 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 >> C:\Documents
and Settings\YourNameHere\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files AND
C:\Documents and Settings\YourNameHere\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.

 

[Captain Jinks]

Shortly after posting my reply to your follow up I discovered a simple
method to achieve what I need. In my case I have the Temporary Internet
Files folder on my "F" drive. By opening Windows Explorer and typing
"F:\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\" in the address window I get
past the "Content.IE5" barrier. Once you're in that folder then all the
subfolders can be browsed normally. There can be anywhere from four to
ten or more subfolders under Content.IE5, depending on your browsing
activity.

If your Temporary Internet Files are located on your C: drive then type:
"C:\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\" and you will be able to see
the REAL contents of the browser cache.

MBH

 

[Wesley Vogel]

MBH,

[["F:\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\"]]

Wrong path!!!!

Should be:
F:\Documents and Settings\YourNameHere\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5

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}.

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.

You can modify the desktop.ini file to make Content.IE5 a regular folder.

Desktop.ini for Temporary Internet Files:
desktop.ini
[.ShellClassInfo]
UICLSID={7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}

The UICLSID line hides the folder in Windows Explorer.

If you delete the desktop.ini then the folders are no longer special and
become visible. However, they will be recreated at next boot. You can fool
Windows by editing the desktop.ini leaving only the [.ShellClassInfo] line.

The magic is in the desktop.ini and the attributes in the registry:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}\ShellFolder
Value Name: Attributes
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 20000004

I have no trouble displaying Content.IE5, in fact I have a shortcut on my
Desktop to:
C:\DOCUME~1\WESLEY~1.VOG\LOCALS~1\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5

This article has a way of deleting and recreating the desktop.ini from the
command prompt.

Viewing Content.IE5 Content.MSO and OLK3 Folders
http://tinyurl.com/4ovxl