> Read/print this article in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Microsoft's Really Hidden Files: A New Look at Forensics

pstores.exe

Related Windows Tricks.

Looking back on the NSA-Key.

What's with those Outlook Express .dbx files?

Windows 2000 support.

I)

a)

b)

II)

MSDOS.SYS

Sysbckup

III)

°ƒë‹x¥.

c:\windows\history\history.ie5\index.dat c:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\index.dat

c:\windows\tempor~1\ c:\windows\history\

c:\windows\profiles\%user%\... c:\windows\application data\... c:\windows\local settings\... c:\windows\temp\... c:\temp\...

3.0. HOW TO ERASE THE FILES ASAP



Step by step information on how to erase these files as soon as possible. This section is recommended for the non-savvy. Further explanation can be found in Section 4.0. Please note that following these next steps will erase all your cache files, all your cookie files. If you use the offline content feature with MSIE, following these next steps will remove this as well. It will not erase your bookmarks.



3.1. IF YOU HAVE EVER USED MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER



1) Shut your computer down, and turn it back on.

2) While your computer is booting keep pressing the [F8] key until you are given an option screen.

3) Choose "Command Prompt Only" (This will take you to true DOS mode.) Windows ME users must use a boot disk to get into real DOS mode.

4) When your computer is done booting, you will have a C:\> followed by a blinking cursor. Type this in, hitting enter after each line. (Obviously, don't type the comments in parentheses.)

C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV (Loads smartdrive to speed things up.) CD\ DELTREE/Y TEMP (This line removes temporary files.) CD WINDOWS DELTREE/Y COOKIES (This line removes cookies.) DELTREE/Y TEMP (This removes temporary files.) DELTREE/Y HISTORY (This line removes your browsing history.) DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1 (This line removes your internet cache.) (If that last line doesn't work, then type this:)

CD\WINDOWS\APPLIC~1 DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1 (If that didn't work, then type this:)

CD\WINDOWS\LOCALS~1 DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1 (If this still does not work, and you are sure you are using MSIE 5.x, then please \windows\profiles\%user%\ , while older versions of MSIE keep them under \windows\content\ .)



This last one will take a ridiculous amount of time to process. The reason it takes so incredibly long is because there is a ton of (semi-) useless cache stored on your HD.



5) Immediately stop using Microsoft Internet Explorer and go with any of the alternative browsers out there (e.g., Netscape 4.7x from netscape.com, Mozilla from mozilla.org, or Opera from opera.com).



FYI, Windows re-creates the index.dat files automatically when you reboot your machine, so don't be surprised when you see them again. They should at least be cleared of your browsing history.



3.2. CLEARING YOUR REGISTRY



It was once believed that the registry is the central database of Windows that stores and maintains the OS configuration information. Well, this is wrong. Apparently, it also maintains a bunch of other information that has absolutely nothing to do with the configuration. I won't get into the other stuff, but for one, your typed URLs are stored in the registry.

HKEY_USERS/Default/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/TypedURLs/ HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/TypedURLs/ These "Typed URLs" come from MSIE's autocomplete feature. It records all URLs that you've typed in manually in order to save you some time filling out the address field. By typing "ama" the autocomplete feature might bring up "amazon.com" for you. Although I find it annoying, some people prefer this feature. One thing is for sure, however -- it's an obvious privacy risk. You wouldn't want a guest to type "ama" and have it autocomplete to "amateurmudwrestlers.com," would you?



3.3. SLACK FILES



sponsored links As you may already know, deleting files only deletes the references to them. They are in fact still sitting there on your HD and can still be recovered by a very motivated person.

BCWipe is a nice program that will clear these files.

For you DOS buffs, there's a freeware file wiper on simtel.net that I use.

If you are using PGP, there is a "Freespace Wipe" option under PGPtools.

The newer versions of Norton Utilities have a nice file wiping utility.

You might want to check out Evidence Eliminator's 30 day trial. This is probably the best program as far as your privacy goes.

3.4. KEEPING MICROSOFT'S PRODUCTS



If your work environment forces you to use Microsoft Internet Explorer, then I strongly recommend that you talk your boss into checking out one of these programs:



PurgeIE

Cache and Cookie Cleaner for IE

TARGET="new-window">Anonymizer Window Washer These programs automate the process for you, and is a better alternative to adding 'deltree/y' lines to your autoexec.



And if your work environment forces you to use Outlook or Outlook Express, then you should get in the habit of compacting your mailboxes.



You can do this by going to File > Folder > Compact All if you have Outlook Express, or Tools > Options > Other tab > [Auto Archive] if you have Outlook. Make sure to set things up here.



4.0. STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE THROUGH YOUR HIDDEN FILES



This next section is intended for the savvy user.



The most important files to be paying attention to are your "index.dat" files. These are database files that reference your history, cache and cookies. The first thing you should know is that the index.dat files is that they don't exist in less you know they do. They second thing you should know about them is that some will *not* get cleared after deleting your history and cache.



The result: A log of your browsing history hidden away on your computer after you thought you cleared it.



To view these files, follow these steps:



In MSIE 5.x, you can skip this first step by opening MSIE and going to Tools > Internet Options > [Settings] > [View Files]. Now write down the names of your alphanumeric folders on a piece of paper. If you can't see any alphanumeric folders then start with step 1 here:



1) First, drop to a DOS box and type this at prompt (in all lower-case). It will bring up Windows Explorer under the correct directory.

c:\windows\explorer /e,c:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\ You see all those alphanumeric names listed under "content.ie5?" (left-hand side.) That's Microsoft's idea of making this project as hard as possible. Actually, these are your alphanumeric folders that was created to keep your cache. Write these names down on a piece of paper. (They should look something like this: 6YQ2GSWF, QRM7KL3F, U7YHQKI4, 7YMZ516U, etc.) If you click on any of the alphanumeric folders then nothing will be displayed. Not because there aren't any files here, but because Windows Explorer has lied to you. If you want to view the contents of these alphanumeric folders you will have to do so in DOS. (Actually, this is not always true. Sometimes Windows Explorer will display the contents of these folders -- but mostly it won't. I can't explain this.)



2) Then you must restart in MS-DOS mode. (Start > Shutdown > Restart in MS-DOS mode. ME users use a bootdisk.)



Note that you must restart to DOS because windows has locked down some of the files and they can only be accessed in real DOS mode.



3) Type this in at prompt:

CD\WINDOWS\TEMPOR~1\CONTENT.IE5 CD %alphanumeric% (replace the " %alphanumeric% " with the first name that you just wrote down.)

DIR/P The cache files you are now looking at are directly responsible for the mysterious erosion of HD space you may have been noticing. One thing particularly interesting is the ability to view some your old e-mail if you happen to have a Hotmail account. (Oddly, I've only been able to retreive Hotmail e-mail, and not e-mail from my other web-based e-mail accounts. Send me your experiences with this.) To see them for yourself you must first copy them into another directory and THEN open them with your browser. Don't ask me why this works.



A note about these files: These are your cache files that help speed up your internet browsing. It is quite normal to use this cache system, as every major browser does. On the other hand. It isn't normal for some cache files to be left behind after you have instructed your browser to erase it.



5) Type this in:

CD\WINDOWS\TEMPOR~1\CONTENT.IE5 EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT You will be brought to a blue screen with a bunch of binary.



6) Press and hold the [Page Down] button until you start seeing lists of URLs. These are all the sites that you've ever visited as well as a brief description of each. You'll notice it records everything you've searched for in a search engine in plain text, in addition to the URL.



7) When you get done searching around you can go to File > Exit. If you don't have mouse support in DOS then use the [ALT] and arrow keys.



8) Next you'll probably want to erase these files by typing this:

C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV CD\WINDOWS DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1 (replace "cd\windows" with the location of your TIF folder if different.)



This will take a seriously long time to process. Even with Smartdrive loaded.



9) Then check out the contents of your History folder by typing this:

CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY\HISTORY.IE5 EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT You will be brought to a blue screen with more binary.



10) Press and hold the [Page Down] button until you start seeing lists of URLS again.



This is another database of the sites you've visited.



11) And if you're still with me, type this:

CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY 12) If you see any mmXXXX.dat files here then check them out (and delete them.) Then:

CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY\HISTORY.IE5 CD MSHIST~1 EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT More URLs from your internet history. Note, there are probably other mshist~x folders here so you can repeat these steps for every occurence if you please.



13) By now, you'll probably want to type in this:

CD\WINDOWS DELTREE/Y HISTORY 5.0. HOW MICROSOFT DOES IT



How does Microsoft make these folders/files invisible to DOS?



The only thing Microsoft had to do to make the folders/files invisible to a directory listing is to set them +s[ystem]. That's it. As soon as the dir/s command hits a system folder, it renders the command useless (unlike normal folders.) A more detailed explanation is given in Section 6.



So how does Microsoft make these folders/files invisible to Windows Explorer?



The " desktop.ini " is a standard text file that can be added to any folder to customize certain aspects of the folder's behavior. In these cases, Microsoft utilized the desktop.ini file to make these files invisible. Invisible to Windows Explorer and even to the "Find: Files or Folders" utility (so you wouldn't be able to perform searches in these folders!) All that Microsoft had to do was create a desktop.ini file with certain CLSID tags and the folders would disappear like magic. Step by step information on how to erase these files as soon as possible. This section is recommended for the non-savvy. Further explanation can be found in Section 4.0. Please note that following these next steps will erase all your cache files, all your cookie files. If you use the offline content feature with MSIE, following these next steps will remove this as well. It will not erase your bookmarks.Shut your computer down, and turn it back on.While your computer is booting keep pressing the [F8] key until you are given an option screen.Choose "Command Prompt Only" (This will take you to true DOS mode.) Windows ME users must use a boot disk to get into real DOS mode.When your computer is done booting, you will have afollowed by a blinking cursor. Type this in, hitting enter after each line. (Obviously, don't type the comments in parentheses.)(Loads smartdrive to speed things up.)(This line removes temporary files.)(This line removes cookies.)(This removes temporary files.)(This line removes your browsing history.)(This line removes your internet cache.) (If that last line doesn't work, then type this:)(If that didn't work, then type this:)(If this still does not work, and you are sure you are using MSIE 5.x, then please e-mail me . If you have profiles turned on, then it is likely located under, while older versions of MSIE keep them under.)This last one will take a ridiculous amount of time to process. The reason it takes so incredibly long is because there is a ton of (semi-) useless cache stored on your HD.Immediately stop using Microsoft Internet Explorer and go with any of the alternative browsers out there (, Netscape 4.7x from netscape.com, Mozilla from mozilla.org, or Opera from opera.com).FYI, Windows re-creates the index.dat files automatically when you reboot your machine, so don't be surprised when you see them again. They should at least be cleared of your browsing history.It was once believed that the registry is the central database of Windows that stores and maintains the OS configuration information. Well, this is wrong. Apparently, it also maintains a bunch of other information that has absolutely nothing to do with the configuration. I won't get into the other stuff, but for one, your typed URLs are stored in the registry.These "Typed URLs" come from MSIE's autocomplete feature. It records all URLs that you've typed in manually in order to save you some time filling out the address field. By typing "ama" the autocomplete feature might bring up "amazon.com" for you. Although I find it annoying, some people prefer this feature. One thing is for sure, however -- it's an obvious privacy risk. You wouldn't want a guest to type "ama" and have it autocomplete to "amateurmudwrestlers.com," would you?As you may already know, deleting files only deletes the references to them. They are in fact still sitting there on your HD and can still be recovered by a very motivated person.If your work environment forces you to use Microsoft Internet Explorer, then I strongly recommend that you talk your boss into checking out one of these programs:These programs automate the process for you, and is a better alternative to adding 'deltree/y' lines to your autoexec.And if your work environment forces you to use Outlook or Outlook Express, then you should get in the habit of compacting your mailboxes.You can do this by going to File > Folder > Compact All if you have Outlook Express, or Tools > Options > Other tab > [Auto Archive] if you have Outlook. Make sure to set things up here.This next section is intended for the savvy user.The most important files to be paying attention to are your "index.dat" files. These are database files that reference your history, cache and cookies. The first thing you should know is that the index.dat files is that they don't exist in less you know they do. They second thing you should know about them is that some will *not* get cleared after deleting your history and cache.The result: A log of your browsing history hidden away on your computer after you thought you cleared it.To view these files, follow these steps:In MSIE 5.x, you can skip this first step by opening MSIE and going to Tools > Internet Options > [Settings] > [View Files]. Now write down the names of your alphanumeric folders on a piece of paper. If you can't see any alphanumeric folders then start with step 1 here:First, drop to a DOS box and type this at prompt (in all lower-case). It will bring up Windows Explorer under the correct directory.You see all those alphanumeric names listed under "content.ie5?" (left-hand side.) That's Microsoft's idea of making this project as hard as possible. Actually, these are your alphanumeric folders that was created to keep your cache. Write these names down on a piece of paper. (They should look something like this: 6YQ2GSWF, QRM7KL3F, U7YHQKI4, 7YMZ516U, etc.) If you click on any of the alphanumeric folders then nothing will be displayed. Not because there aren't any files here, but because Windows Explorer has lied to you. If you want to view the contents of these alphanumeric folders you will have to do so in DOS. (Actually, this is not always true.Windows Explorer will display the contents of these folders -- but mostly it won't. I can't explain this.)Then you must restart in MS-DOS mode. (Start > Shutdown > Restart in MS-DOS mode. ME users use a bootdisk.)Note that you must restart to DOS because windows has locked down some of the files and they can only be accessed in real DOS mode.Type this in at prompt:(replace the "" with the first name that you just wrote down.)The cache files you are now looking at are directly responsible for the mysterious erosion of HD space you may have been noticing. One thing particularly interesting is the ability to view some your old e-mail if you happen to have a Hotmail account. (Oddly, I've only been able to retreive Hotmail e-mail, and not e-mail from my other web-based e-mail accounts. Send me your experiences with this.) To see them for yourself you must first copy them into another directory and THEN open them with your browser. Don't ask me why this works.A note about these files: These are your cache files that help speed up your internet browsing. It is quite normal to use this cache system, as every major browser does. On the other hand. It isn't normal for some cache files to be left behind after you have instructed your browser to erase it.Type this in:You will be brought to a blue screen with a bunch of binary.Press and hold the [Page Down] button until you start seeing lists of URLs. These are all the sites that you've ever visited as well as a brief description of each. You'll notice it records everything you've searched for in a search engine in plain text, in addition to the URL.When you get done searching around you can go to File > Exit. If you don't have mouse support in DOS then use the [ALT] and arrow keys.Next you'll probably want to erase these files by typing this:(replace "cd\windows" with the location of your TIF folder if different.)This will take a seriously long time to process. Even with Smartdrive loaded.Then check out the contents of your History folder by typing this:You will be brought to a blue screen with more binary.Press and hold the [Page Down] button until you start seeing lists of URLS again.This is another database of the sites you've visited.And if you're still with me, type this:If you see any mmXXXX.dat files here then check them out (and delete them.) Then:More URLs from your internet history. Note, there are probably other mshist~x folders here so you can repeat these steps for every occurence if you please.By now, you'll probably want to type in this:How does Microsoft make these folders/files invisible to DOS?The only thing Microsoft had to do to make the folders/files invisible to a directory listing is to set them +s[ystem]. That's it. As soon as the dir/s command hits a system folder, it renders the command useless (unlike normal folders.) A more detailed explanation is given in Section 6.So how does Microsoft make these folders/files invisible to Windows Explorer?The "" is a standard text file that can be added to any folder to customize certain aspects of the folder's behavior. In these cases, Microsoft utilized the desktop.ini file to make these files invisible. Invisible to Windows Explorer and even to the "Find: Files or Folders" utility (so you wouldn't be able to perform searches in these folders!) All that Microsoft had to do was create a desktop.ini file with certain CLSID tags and the folders would disappear like magic.

c:\windows\temporary internet files\desktop.ini

c:\windows\temporary internet files\content.ie5\desktop.ini

[.ShellClassInfo] UICLSID={7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}

c:\windows\history\desktop.ini

c:\windows\history\history.ie5\desktop.ini

[.ShellClassInfo] UICLSID={7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933} CLSID={FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}

UICLSID

CLSID

[.ShellClassInfo]

dir/a/s

/s

CD\ DIR *.IE5 /as/s

CD\WINDOWS\TEMPOR~1 DIR *.IE5 /as/s 1 folder(s) found.

CD\ DIR *.IE5 /a/s

no files found

CD\WINDOWS ATTRIB -S TEMPOR~1

CD\ DIR *.IE5 /a/s

1 folder(s) found.

c:\program files\internet mail and news\%user%\mail\*.mbx c:\windows\application data\microsoft\outlook\mail\*.mbx

a)

b)

cd\windows\intern~1\%user%\mail deltree/y mail

cd\windows\applic~1\micros~1\outloo~1\ deltree/y mail

outbox.dbx

Doc Type File Name Extension MS Office files All the Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Web documents PowerPoint, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft Word document types listed in this table. Microsoft Binder (.odb, .obt) and Microsoft Access (.mdb) files. Note that in .mdb files, only document properties are indexed. MS Excel workbooks .xl* files MS PowerPoint files .ppt (presentation), .pot (template), .pps (auto-running presentation) files MS Project files .mpp, .mpw, .mpt, .mpx, .mpd files MS Word documents .doc (document), .dot (template), .ht* (Hypertext Markup Language document), .txt (text file), .rtf (Rich Text Format) files All files *.* files

CD\ DIR FF*.* /AH

EDIT /75 %ff%

1)

2)

c:\windows\system\

3)

c:\windows\start menu\programs\startup\

4)

c:\progra~1\micros~1\office\

5)

c:\ff*.*

6)

FFNT.exe

FFSetup.dll

FFService.dll

FFast_bb.dll

ffastlog.txt

+h

c:\windows\system\

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.3a Comment: Compatible with PGP 2.6.x mQCNAzvVzqgAAAEEANT+lnfVk79zr/eYkLHs+euTg/JBSQXmUWB5dMxv4Vvv4Xes CnaNrv5Udi3hfABKb1tq41N6kPJ/n/Qz/vSW52Z4wg+Q+ZGGoITIJ1p8bDOceb2Q EsMsY7kzCHqkBF0N53TuVt+ywhVncN+CqecVvhuQ4RXUOVUvru7gGcd76OVxAAUR tAt0aGUgcmlkZGxlcokAlQMFEDvVzqju4BnHe+jlcQEBC14EAM3Th47aEChB0GAf 5xGlLPQnrj6zyf5uovj12PEFnCOwcEhDDAuq4Ito7Keb22DqwlJDNChIM7xLx8bZ d9VaMpkirFzgvFmGu5eNGp18rR9EyIVY/tTdWlRcsUL/nw2XNXxw51tHE7M/O1fp Un4qIcG0CfAQ1QCUfqOwTWbFH/Wy =muLu -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (MingW32) mQGhBDu3TSERBACO0Fx9pjMULe6qLQwOgfvdnQconLOMyftZdp9+ZX6t29ebJ/Z5 qQOJ9ce9Xr6Lj4u+M9VDx1FK5ueoD45bUAy0HAvYDV/HEu2vCRimpbreDky/U88a XL59Pe8qwnmfUzYc/LnH86VCr4lPmpbz6/adXj44xE6EwkhFcq6BD4isCwCg8zZO Hk9+KEKOyPHIFWq7TUA/JdUD/jWtNrGZ0tfSAS0WDiBifsBr1HW7n2IMDFX1anqC DN0ToM5IFWGDkOh1NUvP0RvyrnNuBOP/oWxkPLR0nVvifETF0iG9o+kfitC9NmJn QP/iw4WhCoHRCc5wqnAAXQC9j8JdodQ8E5VnfnNGkttgWz7mNzBongrIoTdfVdtf o5NwA/d/lwMhGE0HNXnXOgRBcPjGD0LsR8pFoSP/HJ9Hu3zms2cbQqN2O/f99H2G s9mXR7uvicu9SbKoTwFkptLVbOQIhvBnw0fTlZGrUsaiw4vzt99PffTKq1FPIpQe K7HcnUK2+ZSVs5PxGiDckobJEjBssSw9Lg5RSNMy9H7s9jv3tAt0aGUgcmlkZGxl cohXBBMRAgAXBQI7t00iBQsHCgMEAxUDAgMWAgECF4AACgkQ/bqXDRMV1MxyMgCc CH2uO/f46JgQ0pspQxi7IBv0yNQAn11ebXHbZGuADwuBun1EnQCJb8VIuQINBDu3 UOAQCADKG2mf/FW3kuSAGoFmIMBm4l6m0O7denwUIpZP2jxeNTLmLW6ntGglHP++ wEQpHjKTJfXoSHZH0euuXVZ9hOVdf1+PuRNy0DzrDDiKX7fdQ6eSbw+heSWc0kOF AB1j3pcovG4K2+bK66039kQLIT3kNUZgh9DdMZjIFzBg90aQnaEm5LLMkv1FNVZP YehZm3RRIpLAX5vkJJbUA/VVh/FXDG5f21iAGDHgSdKsLW2JNDAWe6/rY0GV5dgx C0gsqBn1rxNNDyG+z6nFCQtohL/x5zdTzedLQBjIlao91mSWhBsyxiX8mjhvGO97 o6zVUG5KHBKGmvWMqlyOsGY9VSbDAAMGCADIaFAcE+ADY3ku9Fy0NIlJhbj578YY xpsE6KvZI1OqbHSoBnN06A3Mpxp4QRBXlr9eRRl+zMTQl1VcVWkahZYNapOqq6L3 wHBmf9psggCBxqQdI9n5zxnlkphb50J7G9UevB/IGzlW2fe7WMWjo2GegIvGHVWr qeZgyaNf/CyMtihAX3O86rpqakq//nJvQ9MPcp/Brr9KT2NxBlpBm6xWY35IL5FG dZ2hpHaO1TC6bdmWUPhvzmSVtD9f0AnnJEgVc03vBz7xJrc1IEa1DeRdfFNvkoch +mNjc+fBAIQrVMCQ33u+yP/DWSdThrhxz1tAGWV7SlwxVyg6JPRQJ+moiEYEGBEC AAYFAju3UOAACgkQ/bqXDRMV1MwVnACfaGrJRv2lgWHQbQWwv55t2cT+QWEAnA/n ckswjlC9aNcBkcFl7X1SX8JX =pFTK -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: PGP 6.5.8 mQGiBDwJ3KgRBADJtGieMz/kabOMMTcSAUBn2c0majSEgnHpWSlGEIpOmnnAqOH+ xDYUxWnsMllYenXQfxwB++GBLh1D3wX/EIAlP3Y5jZ77Zt6PxOKUrecCDE8x1MZ8 Oiw57JAxzcBhE4CQaqzhLqwQe/yMJCc7plVjvUYmHb+INcnPi803XZaZjwCg/z0j LmbVzWUtPo8V2KdbFPhfa8cD/00OrT7ijuXCjZNDvjsU6pSVAmSVPABhcpvFy0gm oiusMASehoam6JMiqKnuDSVUe5hV07DO4dz67re3m97jdUY4veg0hcDCFQdifC57 VhjNHA406mV8a7aJDRGtb0LWIeEPm6LPw/SM+KuEaZ5ynnpaPWJifDWvds1MROrX ktY1A/9713j5DWhpjwQum1jdVnUdXTaz5znEqPgKfJ4Q/1Sm2XI0m+J4e4KAaTfq +ZtiY6zrVbZsooSqamU6raa+oSbPrnhCyIoCgvEHJIB34+fOoODJaVQV4q4UK9p8 yhyBoEv+76Th4UllsWT+y31whM7b4aKwQ+JYbjnScYC2S+ZXD7QLVGhlIFJpZGRs ZXKJAE4EEBECAA4FAjwJ3KgECwMBAgIZAQAKCRBBoOtE1cld08B9AKCZ8AW5QLtd pw/pwwVRtPPJu1sFwQCeKXDyo7L+pltVKl22L8+wRmDHOPy5AQ0EPAnc/xAEAOcJ pboxlU3aUQC9lmwkU6yBIlS2JMUF5wVTI57ylR+Nz9qOOx1dTlf7ED6xJb/ARPAD 56yGpO4z5Ga3SPqOgWSW/+XcGmFaCbai+YAo1j2O/ljNa3LZExxWs4G1/k0yygY/ DVUV82ht8mFNzzDoD5ZwngmhWofQdIn4UqgOo3FrAAICBADNg1wB8TiGngnEZeSn oFfBraUbxcDNGpE1doKoV2l6KT56iFdQOyvJ9/y7OQN5qkoLEZlQbbyUA9mRV70u 1AWZFcDlk5fS30ZfEULVoRqcZpjRlR0TQR/yAYE+Cf4SGmjBmDLtTsBUx7YFuOgm Kg3tOZVw0bUrEJCAczky15Zup4kARgQYEQIABgUCPAnc/wAKCRBBoOtE1cld01hO AJ0ZpkL6vbTT90TPDtJUe0mbQRXbwQCghEk4buWY5DFpEX2Mdon3/XumApc= =ozdt -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

> An older version of this article (v 2.1b) containing MS Outlook issue is available here > Our related discussion threads: How to access hidden temp files by The Riddler November 3, 2001(v2.0 finished May 16, 2001; v1.0 finished June 11, 2000)I will not be liable for any damage or lost information, whether due to reader's error, or any other reason.If you'd like to comment specifically on this article (and not this website as a whole), please write directly to the author at ther1ddler@fuckMicrosoft.com There are folders on your computer that Microsoft has tried hard to keep secret. Within these folders you will find two major things: Microsoft Internet Explorer has not been clearing your browsing history after you have instructed it to do so, and Microsoft's Outlook Express has not been deleting your e-mail correspondence after you've erased them from your Deleted Items bin. (This also includes all incoming and outgoing file attachments.) And believe me, that's not even the half of it.When I say these files are hidden well, I really mean it. If you don't have any knowledge of DOS then don't plan on finding these files on your own. I say this because these files/folders won't be displayed in Windows Explorer at all -- only DOS. (Even after you have enabled Windows Explorer to "show all files.") And to top it off, the only way to find them in DOS is if you knew the exact location of them. Basically, what I'm saying is if you didn't know the files existed then the chances of you running across them is slim to slimmer.It's interesting to note that Microsoft does not explain this behavior adequately at all. Just try searching on microsoft.com I know there are some people out there that are already aware of some of the things I mention. I also know that most people are not. The purpose of this tutorial is teach people what is really going on with Microsoft's products and how to take control of their privacy again. This tutorial was written by me, so if you see a mistake somewhere then it is my mistake, and I apologize.Thanks for reading.1. DEFINITIONS 1.1) Acronyms 2. SEEING IS BELIEVING 3. HOW TO ERASE THE FILES ASAP 3.1) If You Have Ever Used Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.2) Clearing Your Registry 3.3) Slack files 3.4) Keeping Microsoft's Products 4. STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE THROUGH YOUR HIDDEN FILES (For the savvy.)5. HOW MICROSOFT DOES IT 6. +S MEANS [S]ECRET NOT [S]YSTEM 6. A LOOK AT OUTLOOK 8. THE TRUTH ABOUT FIND FAST 8.1) Removing Find Fast 9. CONTACT INFORMATION AN PGP BLOCKS 9.1) Recommended reading 10. SPECIAL THANKS 11. REFERENCES Well, the best definition I have been able to come up with is the following:A "really hidden" file/folder is one that cannot be seen in Windows Explorer after enabling it to "show all files," and cannot be seen in MS-DOS after receiving a proper directory listing from root.There is at least one workaround to enable Windows Explorer to see them.There is at least one workaround to enable MS-DOS to see them.Distinguishes "really hidden" file/folders from just plain +h[idden] ones, such as your "" or "" folder.Distinguishes from certain "other" intended hidden files, such as a file with a name of "(Interesting to note that Microsoft has disabled the "Find: Files or Folders" from searching through one of these folders.)DOS = Disk Operating System, or MS-DOSMSIE = Microsoft Internet ExplorerTIF = Temporary Internet Files (folder)HD = Hard DriveOS = Operating SystemFYI = For Your InformationNo. Enabling Windows Explorer to "show all files" does not show the files in mention. No. DOS does not list the files after receiving a proper directory listing from root. And yes. Microsoft intentionally disabled the "Find" utility from searching through one of the folders.Oh, but that's not all.Just from one of these files I would be able to tell you which web sites you previously visited, what types of things you search for in search engines, and probably gather your ethnicity, religion, and sexual preference. Needless to say one can build quite a profile on you from these files. It has the potential to expose and humiliate -- putting your marriage, friendship, and corporation at risk. Here's one good example of the forensic capabilities.-- Concerned Boss, 8/24/01One more thing. They contain your browsing history at ALL times. Even after you have instructed Microsoft Internet Explorer to clear your history/cache. And so the saying goes, "seeing is believing."To see for yourself simply do as you would normally do to clear your browsing history. Go to Internet Options under your Control Panel. Click on the [Clear History] and [Delete Files] buttons. (Make sure to include all offline content.)So, has your browsing history been cleared? One would think so.Skipping the to chase here. These are the names and locations of the "really hidden files":If you have upgraded MSIE several times, they might have alternative names of mm256.dat and mm2048.dat, and may also be located here:Not to mention the other alternative locations under:(or as defined in your autoexec.bat.)FYI, there are a couple other index.dat files that get hidden as well, but they are seemingly not very important. See if you can find them.To show you exactly what's going on:Found in theand theis this text:Found in theand theis this text:Theline cloaks the folder in Windows Explorer. Theline disables the "Find" utility from searching through the folder. (Additionally, it gives a folder the appearance of the "History" folder.)To see for yourself, you can simply erase the desktop.ini files. You'll see that it will instantly give Windows Explorer proper viewing functionality again, and the "Find" utility proper searching capabilities again. Problem solved right? Actually, no. As it turns out, the desktop.ini files get reconstructed every single time you restart your computer. Nice one, Slick.Luckily there is a loophole which will keep Windows from hiding these folders. You can manually edit the desktop.ini's and remove everything except for the "" line. This will trick windows into thinking they have still covered their tracks, and wininet won't think to reconstruct them.I can't stress how ridiculous it is that Windows actually makes sure the files are hidden on every single boot. No other files or folders get this kind of special treatment. So what's the agenda here?Executing the "" command from rootbe the correct command to display all files in all subdirectories in DOS. However, doing so will not display the index.dat files. This is because when DOS tries to get a list of the subdirectories of any +s[ystem] directory it hits a brick wall. No files or folders will be listed within any system directory. Not only does this defeat the whole purpose of the "" switch in the first place, but I'd say it looks like Microsoft took extra precautions to keep people from finding the files. Remember, the only thing you need to do to obscure a file in DOS is to mark the parent directories as +s[ystem].I was told by a few people that this was due to a very old DOS bug that dates back many years. Fine. I can accept that. A bug it is.But, would you consider your Temporary Internet Files to be "system files?" It would seem that your TIF folder appears to be marked +s[ystem] for no good reason at all. Just because. Same with your history folder. You may not agree, but I tend to think that Microsoft marked the folders as +s[ystem] solely to hide any directory recursal from DOS.In case you didn't understand, here's a small experiment that will show you what I mean.Since the content.ie5 and history.ie5 subfolders are both located within a +s[ystem] folder, we will run the experiment with them. The proper command to locate thembe this:The problem is that you will receive a "No files found" error message.Since we already know there is a content.ie5 subfolder located here, why is it giving me the "no files found" message?But there is a way to get around this brick wall. That is, once you are inside the system directory, then it no longer has an effect on the dir listings. For example, if you enter the system folder first, and THEN try to find any +s[ystem] directories you can see them just fine:Now you will get a "1 folder(s) found." message. (But only after you knew the exact location.)In other words, if you didn't know the files existed then finding them would be almost impossible.And, by the way, to see the "bug" in progress:It will echo "."Now, just take away the system attributes from the parent directory...And retry the test:It will echo "Would you think twice about what you said if you knew it was being recorded? E-mail correspondence leaves a permanent record of everything you've said -- even after you've told Outlook to erase it. You are given a false sense of security sense you've erased it twice, so surely it must be gone. The first time Outlook simply moves it to your "Deleted Items" folder. The second time you erase it Outlook simply "pretends" it is gone. The truth is your messages are still being retained in the database files on your hard drive. (As are your e-mail attachments.)For earlier versions of Outlook Express, they will be located in either of the following folders:At this point you have two choices:Get in the habit of compacting your folders all the time.Backup, print out, or import the data into another e-mail client such as Eudora and then delete the mbx files (and thus all your e-mail correspondence) by typing this:or(Typing in the above commands will kill all your e-mail correspondence. Do not follow those steps in less you have already backed up your e-mail and address book!)If you have a newer version of Outlook or Outlook Express, the databases are located elsewhere. Look for .dbx and .pst file extensions. These databases are five times as creepy, and I strongly recommend you take at the files.Just from myfile I was able to view some of my old browsing history, bring up previously-visited websites in html format, and even read ancient e-mail from my Eudora client (read: EUDORA).Again, don't take my word for it. See for yourself and THEN tell me what you think "Slick Willy" is up to here.Have you ever wondered what that "Find Fast" program was under your control panel? Here's a hint: It has absolutely nothing to do with the "Find" utility located under the [Start] menu. Just to clear up any confusion before going on, Oblivion adequately explains Find Fast here:"In any version of Word after 95, choose File Open and you'll get the Office App Open dialog. Instead of just a space for the file name, there are text boxes for file name, files of type, text or property & last modified. These are search criteria you can use to find one or more files. There is also an "Advanced" button that opens a dedicated search dialog with more options. When you use either of these dialogs to perform a search, that search process uses the indexes built by Find Fast."But what would you say if I told you that Find Fast was scanning every single file on your hard drive? Did you know that in Office 95, the Find Fast Indexer had an "exclusion list" comprised of .exe, .swp, .dll and other extensions, but the feature was eliminated? If you were a programmer would you program Find Fast to index every single file, or just the ones with Office extensions?FYI, If you have ever had problems with scandisk or defrag restarting due to disk writes, it is because Find Fast was indexing your hard drive in the background. It loads every time you start your computer up.Now here is a good example of the lengths Microsoft has gone through to keep people from finding out Find Fast is constantly scanning and indexing their hard drives. (Always good to have an alibi.) Here's a snippet taken from microsoft.com:"When you specify the type of documents to index in the Create Index dialog box, Find Fast includes the document types that are listed in the following table.Did you get that last part? "All files?" Find Fast indexes Office Documents, Web documents, Word Documents, Power Point files, Project files, and -- oh, I forgot -- EVERY SINGLE other file on your computer.Actually, the good news is that this isn't necessarily true. In another statement, Microsoft claims that if Find Fast deems the file "unreadable" then the file will not be included in the index. For example, your command.com probably wouldn't get indexed because it doesn't have a lot of plain text -- mostly binary.But back to the bad news. Every single file that has legible text is going to be included in the Find Fast database. Do you understand the implication here?The forensic capabilities are enormous, folks. Don't forget that "all text" also means previously visited webpages from your cache. See for yourself. Open up a DOS window and type:(This will bring up a listing of the Find Fast databases.)(insert %ff% with any of the names that were listed.) Notice the incredible amount of disk accesses to your cache and history folders? Why do we need two indexes?You can remove Find Fast using your Office CD, but I recommend you do it manually.Reboot your computer in MS-DOS Mode.Delete the FindFast.CPL file fromDelete the shortcut (.lnk) underDelete the FindFast.EXE file fromIt's important to delete the find fast databases ().You can also safely delete, andif you have them.Feel free to check out the(which is the Find Fast error log). It's a[idden] file underThis tutorial is being updated all the time. If you have any useful input, or if you see a mistake somewhere, then please e-mail me so I can compile it into future versions. You will be able to find the most recent version of this tutorial at fuckMicrosoft.com. I am not directly affiliated with the site.My e-mail address is located at the end of this note. Please let me know where you heard about this tutorial in your message. If you have something important to say to me, then please use encryption. My public key blocks are located below. Be suspicious if you send me an encrypted message but never get a reply.Thanks for reading.-- The Riddlere-mail: ther1ddler@fuckMicrosoft.com My PGP 2.6.3 Block:My GPG 1.0.6 Block:My PGP 6.5.8 Block (patched ADK bug):This version I want to give special thanks to Concerned Boss, Oblivion, and the F-Prot virus scanner.I also want to take this time to show my dissatisfaction to the. Although partly flattering, it was more disgusting to see a newspaper try to take credit for my work.This article has been under the protection of copyright laws the moment it was fixed in a tangible form. In less otherwise agreed, this article may only be distributed as a whole and without modification. Thank you.