Studies show that Microsoft is effectively acting as "big brother" for all of its users. Two of its most used programs, Outlook, and Internet Explorer are creating huge databases full of information regarding every web site you have visited, all of your e-mails (even the ones you deleted), and other information that could be used accessed by anyone. With this information, anyone could easily gain information about you, your family, your friends, etc. Also, this process creates huge databases on your harddrive that just eat up your free space.
But these files are not easy to find, being intentionally hidden by Microsoft. They can only be found if you know where they are. The files are stored depending on the operating system you are running. If you are running Windows 95 to ME, the data will be stored in one of these folders:
| Operating System | Database location |
| Windows XP and 2000 | C:\Documents and Settings\Your User Name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat |
| Windows 98/ME | c:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\index.dat |
The file index.dat contains a database of every site/email you have viewed, including attachments. Even after being deleted, this file will be regenerated by Windows without your browsing history. Now would be a good time to switch to an alternate web browser, such as Netscape, Firefox, Seamonkey, or Opera.
Based off of: Microsoft's Really Hidden Files at Microsuck