2 questions: 1 about the paging file, 1 about index.dat

[Mike]

I have 2 questions. One is about index.dat and the other is about the paging or swap file.

1) I want to erase index.dat. In the FAQ section at the Eraser website it says the following: "Index.dat can only be erased on Reboot. Create a new task and schedule it for Reboot."

I know how to create a New Task. I also know where to find index.dat. What I do NOT know is how to schedule a new task for Reboot. How do I schedule a task for reboot? I don't see a box to check or any option that specifically mentions Reboot.

2) I recently erased all of the unused space on my hard drive. This is the first time since changing my operating system from Windows 98 to XP that I've used Eraser to wipe all of the free space. Before I erased the free space I disabled the paging file just like I used to do with Windows 98. After Eraser had finished 5 hours later I went back to enable the paging file and discovered that I didn't have to. Apparently XP had overridden the change I had made. Has anyone else had this experience?

I've read through the literature at the Eraser website and if I understand it correctly I no longer have to disable the paging file prior to erasing the free space. I should instead check the "Enable clearing of paging file (swap) at shutdown" box, correct?

 

[jackjack]

1) I want to erase index.dat. In the FAQ section at the Eraser website it says the following: "Index.dat can only be erased on Reboot. Create a new task and schedule it for Reboot."

I covered this here. If you still have problems let me know.

I've read through the literature at the Eraser website and if I understand it correctly I no longer have to disable the paging file prior to erasing the free space. I should instead check the "Enable clearing of paging file (swap) at shutdown" box, correct?

I never disabled the pagefile in win98. I believe the reason though for disabling it was that the pagefile can grow and shrink when could result in certain data (outside of the pagefile) being missed during a free space wipe. What I could recommend doing to prevent this is to permanently set the pagefile.sys to a fixed size and then setting the pagefile to be wiped (this is a windows rather than eraser function. eraser just provides a handy interface to enabling it). Note that it will increase the time it takes for reboots.

 

[spy1]

Try to make sure that you do, indeed, get all the "index.dat's" on your machine - otherwise they won't be erased. On my machine(s) here, I use Index.dat.Suite ( http://support.it-mate.co.uk/?mode=Prod ... x.datsuite ), which finds all "index.dats" on the computer (including in other profiles, if any) and allows you to examine the individual contents of each one; delete all or some of them; print them out, etc.

The total number of index.dat files found actually varies from session-to-session on a computer.

After Id.S finds and deletes them, a freespace wipe with Eraser obliterates the remnants.

If you set Eraser (Edit/Preferences/General/Paging File section) to "Enable Clearing of Paging (swap) File at Shutdown", then the swap file gets cleared every time you shut the computer off, making the occurence of Windows re-enabling the swap file after you've told it NOT to moot.

You also have to put checkmarks in both boxes under "Locked Files" (same tab as above). HTH Pete