Internet Explorer History

[-ct-]

many people want to kill the history for whatever reasonhide porn from the wife or boss, or maybe they're paranoid thinking M$ is gonna get that info (they won't and don't care and can't possible keep it all anyway)there are several ways to do this and maybe someone else will post how to, but not me because i LIKE having my history file(s) and i set the time to the max, 999 daysevery so often i'll be looking for something i thought i saw somewhere and sure enough, that site will be in my historythe question i have is how to EXPORT the history file(s) so i can put them on another PC or "reinstall" them after a reformat/reinstall of an OSthere sure isn't anything out there for an application or how-to to keep these files, just to kill themsimply copying the file(s) over to a new install doesn't work, i've triedi'm assuming there's more to it than just the files, but what else? registry entries? other files that call to these?any ideas anyone?

[Stryder]

What OS are you using and where are you copying from?

[benhenry]

... the question i have is how to EXPORT the history file(s) so i can put them on another PC or "reinstall" them after a reformat/reinstall of an OS

Hi -ct- I can tell you what not to try! Your question intrigued me... so I searched google for "Save Internet History Files" and I came up with only one hit that turned out to be bad advice (for win98 anyway).Don't try to copy, move, rename, etc. the actual "History" folder itself. It is not an "actual" folder... I think it is called a "Namespace" (it is just a virtual presentation in explorer of information that is stored in index.dat files and in the registry.Because I'm stubborn and not too bright at times... I tried anyway! How convenient it would be to just copy one folder and have an immediate backup of tons and tons of internet shortcuts! So I tried to make a copy of the History system folder... Windows tried to protect me from my madness, but I was undaunted and managed to make a copy of "History" from a Dos box, and name it "History2". "I'm on my way," I thought gleefully... "-ct- will be so happy that I have solved this problem!" But then I noticed in the registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders... that the value(path) for History had been rewritten by windows to show "History2" To make a long story short... I did manage to empty the original history folderand overwrite it with the new history2 folder, proving (I guess) that a backup and restore using this method would work.... but the problem is:You can't get rid of the "History2" folder after you create it! Dangnabbit! I tried everything I knew... From a dos box under windows ...from a command prompt outside of windows ... using the wininit.ini file at boot ... changing the shell folders entry in the registry back and forth between the 2 history folders and then repeating all the steps again.... Every time I would get rid of one or the other or both of them... Windows would recreate both folders. I finally had to use scanreg to restore the registry... then quickly reboot before any disk writes, boot to a command prompt... deltree the History and History2 folders... and then, finally, windows recreated just the one proper History folder on the next cold boot.Now, of course, I did try to write this with a little humor... but the whole procedure was really quite time consuming, and frustrating.I did find one glimmer of hope along the way... When you expand the subfolders under the main history folder, and then further expand the subfolders that correspond to sections under the daily dates... it is possible to simply copy the internet shortcuts to a folder of your choice. But what good would that do for 999 days worth of history?I tried to write a batch to do it.. but I couldn't succesfully get it to read the "names" of the subfolders. Then I tried to write a script for the routine using the Windows Scripting Host, but I'm not making any progress there either. So in summary: I wish I had never ever seen your post -ct- ! (Just kidding) Please let me know if you find a solution to this very interesting question.

[-ct-]

... the question i have is how to EXPORT the history file(s) so i can put them on another PC or "reinstall" them after a reformat/reinstall of an OS

.....So in summary: I wish I had never ever seen your post -ct- ! .....

Stryder: any windows OS, i have a lab with 19 PC's here running everything from 3.1 to win2k3...benhenry: that's what Scot says everytime i post a question!

[Guest LilBambi]

Wow ... I feel your pain benhenry -ct- The export feature in IE 6 doesn't work for it either ...you can export favorites and cookies, but no history ...

[benhenry]

Wow ... I feel your pain benhenry

Thanks Bambi, I'm feeling much better now... I have a "history" of these kinds of sessions.

[Jeber]

Ooooooo, benhenry, don't you just love those little projects that seem so simple, then turn into a 10 hour marathon session at the keyboard trying to undo the bloody mess? Are you using XP? System restore sure comes in handy at times like these. Thank goodness you know your way around the registry. Your experience should be an example to the newbies here. Even those who know better sometimes make a hash of things. The important part is learning what to do (like backup) when the worst happens so you can recover with major hair pulling. You really did an outstanding job of trying to find an answer to the question. Too bad it backfired on you.-ct-, you may be stuck having to create a text file and typing in the URL's you want to save.

[eksimba]

the question i have is how to EXPORT the history file(s) so i can put them on another PC or "reinstall" them after a reformat/reinstall of an OS

This might not be exactly what you want, but it may be useful. I've never used it before, so I can't vouch for it...History Book for IE5 found on website http://www.dewassoc.com/support/index.html

[eksimba]

Hmmm... I tested the link and it redirects to the main page. You can find what I was linking to by going to the "Useful Tools and Files" section, and scrolling way down towards the bottom of the page. Sorry about that...

[benhenry]

This might not be exactly what you want, but it may be useful. I've never used it before, so I can't vouch for it...

Thanks for that link eksimba... I downloaded "Version 2" from here:History Book for Internet ExplorerIt works on my computer just fine... It might be an acceptable solution for -ct- if he doesn't mind a huge html file for the links.Thanks again, Ben

[benhenry]

Ooooooo, benhenry, don't you just love those little projects that seem so simple, then turn into a 10 hour marathon session at the keyboard trying to undo the bloody mess?

I love it. I love how nicely it hurts.Nope, I don't have XP.. win98... that's how I learned to recover from these situations. P.S. I poked a little fun at you and muckshifter in this thread: Screen Shots

[-ct-]

thanks guys, that may come in handy!butthose will only EXPORT a html file as a list, you sure can't import it, and/or do a search as you can with the history in IE as it isi need to be able to IMPORT them also:(

[Stryder]

Man ct, I spent about an hour and a half non stop trying to find an answer to this and I am stumped. Scoured the MS KB and googled until the "Google Search" button started getting dents in it.I found a reference to registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Historythat relates to the history, but nothing specific. Will keep looking when I get more time.

[DotFlunky]

I've been looking for something that would allow me to edit my IEHistory for some time now (or format info). I'm glad to see someone who values the record of his internet viewing pleasures as much as you do. I've been edging up from ~3mos to ~1year now in my history.The namespace part is correct but there are physical folders and lots of files involved. I'd moved my history folder to e:\windows\history so it would stay fairly constant through a restore from backup. Anyway, I right-click copied my history folder to my desktop and renamed it Bistory. Then I reinstalled a clean W98 setup from a CD backup. I booted to the new setup and placed my e:\windows\desktop\bistory folder in c:\windows folder (from in windows to make the longfilename copying so much easier). I then booted to DOS and deleted history folder and renamed bistory, history, and then booted back to windows. Of course, this did not work! But the past DAY was displayed in IEHistory. Since the last few days are in their own folders, I thought perhaps windows did the obvious and had deleted the other folders, but the folders were still visible in winfile (which I used to see past some of the windows obfuscation on what is and isn't a folder or file). I had to leave for work so I restored the c: backup I'd made before I went to the clean install.Tonight I found what MAY be the key, but I won't have time to try anything til middle of next week probably so I thought I toss it out in case anyone wants to work with it. The following registry key has all the little history subfolders listed:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings.0\Cache\Extensible CacheWhat I'm thinking may work is to copy the folders as I'd done, plus exporting the above key. Then when you get to the DOS boot part (out of windows anyway you want to get there) to rename the bistory folder to history, ALSO do the DOS command: regedit path/exportedregfile.reg (with appropriate shortfilename, if necessary). This seems like a likely way to get windows to recognize the existence of all the other history subfolders. Plus if you're doing this on a machine with small history settings then you'll need to increase it first thing or windows will start hacking off the excess.I'll get back to this when I have some time, but I'm hoping that someday the IE folks'll realize that a history is worth importing and exporting to some of us.History good!

[dcdc]

-ct-You may be able to save your History by using the very tool which enables you to delete them.Dont know about XP but if you run Spider in 98 you will see your browsing history starting from before 99 days. Not sure if you can copy and paste. Maybe someone else knows.Alternatively although Windows will normally not allow you to view it, the relevant index.dat file can be opened in Edit Pad - an enhanced alternative to NotePad.

[benhenry]

What I'm thinking may work is to copy the folders as I'd done, plus exporting the above key. Then when you get to the DOS boot part (out of windows anyway you want to get there) to rename the bistory folder to history, ALSO do the DOS command: regedit path/exportedregfile.reg (with appropriate shortfilename, if necessary). This seems like a likely way to get windows to recognize the existence of all the other history subfolders. Plus if you're doing this on a machine with small history settings then you'll need to increase it first thing or windows will start hacking off the excess.

Wow... I think this might work... I will try it, too, time permitting. One addition might(?) help while still in DOS ... del (path here)\history\history.ie5\index.dator (easier)build a wininit.ini file in your %windir% with the following:[Rename]nul=(short path here, no spaces)\history\history.ie5\index.datso then Windows will be forced to rebuild a new index.dat containing the file info in the new history folder and the info you merged with exportedregfile.regP.S. If we do not learn from the import of our history we will be doomed to not repeat it. ;)I edited this post to fix the spelling of "wininit.ini" Lots of eyes in that file!Also... deltree may be required instead of del ... not sure...

[-ct-]

Man ct, I spent about an hour and a half non stop trying to find an answer to this and I am stumped. Scoured the MS KB and googled until the "Google Search" button started getting dents in it.I found a reference to registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Historythat relates to the history, but nothing specific. Will keep looking when I get more time.

this is exactly what i did, and why i posted the Q hereno-one has done this, it seemsdcdc: nope, aint gonna workbenhenry, if you get it to work, lets see if we can develop a small app for this instead of doing it manually - this is the whole idea of windows, make everything click-able!i doubt it could take more than 25k...

[DotFlunky]

I looked at this again and was troubled by this regkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings.0\Cache\Extensible Cache\UserData It also has a file reference so if it fails on me when I try it as you'd suggested I'll also see if this additional file will get it to work.BTW- Searched for "extensible cache ie" and found what appears to be the program I've been dreaming of, but it is kinda pricey for both the programs at this site:http://www.wbaudisch.de/HistoryReader.htmI'm downloading it as I type this. Good info at the website, also.

[benhenry]

BTW- Searched for "extensible cache ie" and found what appears to be the program I've been dreaming of, but it is kinda pricey for both the programs at this site:http://www.wbaudisch.de/HistoryReader.htmI'm downloading it as I type this. Good info at the website, also.

U da Man! From reading the very informative pages at the site, it looks like you found the solution... and it also explains why replacing History with Distory was losing all the nice subfolders names (on my win98 anyway), {eg; scotsnewsletter (www.scotsnewsletter.com) no longer had its own folder} and placing the individual urls under the main folder for the day.I guess rebuilding the global index wipes out the weekly index (that I didn't even know existed!)I think using a combination of the Index (History) Reader and the History Inspector will give -ct- the ability to import his history to a new machine, (if he has the 2 programs installed on both machines) by using the "change history path" functions.But you are also right about this: just a little bit pricey. It should be a great solution for -ct- but, for our small family needs I like the little freeware that eksimba found. I have another little freeware that works well with it CopyUrl - Freeware - Moon Software ; it simplifies copying urls in different forms, so exporting the history to an html file, then copying the urls to a folder, makes "backing" up the history to "Favorites" an adequate solution. and those folders can simply be stored, or copied directly to another machines' favorites' folder.Thanks for that link to the History Reader! I wish I could have been around to see Wolfgang coding those programs.

[benhenry]

benhenry, if you get it to work, lets see if we can develop a small app for this instead of doing it manually - 

DotFlunky found somebody who beat us to it... with lots of extras, too.But it occurs to me that the entire operation (might) would be more easily accomplished in Phownix Info: Phoenix (Mozilla) BrowserI think it would be easier to write a plugin for Phoenix or create a subroutine directly in XUL for it.I just downloaded the browser a few days ago, and I am still learning (playing with it) about it, but from what I've seen IE is going to have some real competition soon.

[DotFlunky]

-ct-,It worked.I'm glad you posted this question. It's the reason I registred here. I was interested in doing this several years ago, but could never get the history to move. The History folder and subfolders with registry key zip up to around 4MB for about a year of history for me. I doubt I'll be doing that if the HistoryReader seems like it's going to be worth my money. And I was only working with the parent folder actually named "history" and trusting that all the subfolders etc would move as well as normal folders. The method I was using never actually directly touched upon the index.dat files:Right click c:\windows\history folder, select copy, and paste on desktop or wherever. Zip it up or save it along with the regkey mentioned. Then carry both to new machine. Copy somewhere on new HD from in windows so you don't lose longfilenames.While in windows I also deleted the registry key mentioned below (for good luck).Then get out of windows and from DOS import the regfile and deltree history and then move or rename (not copy) the copied history into its place so again you don't lose longfilenames of subfolders.Boot to windows and all should be fine. benhenry, I was just going to report that copying the folder and exporting the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Extensible Cache key would allow you to move the IE history (if the IE version is 5 or 6). If you did everything as described I don't see what would go wrong, but I mentioned what I did again above, not that I recommend anyone do this. It's been driving me nuts for years. The program seems better for what I want which is adding comments, and having the history easily stored so I can go back for URLS.You mentioned "rebuilding the Global Index" and what I was doing was copying the entire history folder along with subfolders and moving it to another windows installation. And then upon booting to DOS, importing the exported registry key which pointed windows to all the subfolders and deleting the old history folder and replacing it with the copied history before I go back into windows. There was no change in index.dat or any of the subfolders. You are very correct about Phoenix. It's going to make some waves.

[-ct-]

-ct-,It worked.....Then get out of windows and from DOS import  the regfile and deltree ...

glad it worked! (though the steps so far are a bit confusing, a rewrite step-by-step might help. run an ap 1st? export a reg key? import it? i'll have to re-read it all...)however, going into DOS is NOT gonna work on an NTFS box running 2k and/or XP, and since 2k is my main OS for now, well,... :D

[DotFlunky]

-ct_,I don't know the tools available in w2k or xp, but the registry editor in these OSs probably have a way to import an exported registry file just like w9x's regedit. From what I've read in this document you may be able to copy the folder from "safe mode with command prompt". In w2k and xp, I think these should allow longfilenames at command prompt, but I'm not that familiar with those OSs. Also there should be some program, like attrib, to change an attribute if necessary.I'm not even certain that registry keys could be incorporated, but the only obvious change in the *.reg files that I saw was "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00" replaced the "regedit4" line at the top. Using xp you may know more about whether there are other format changes. What I'd done is:1. Open explorer to c:\windows folder 2. Right-click "History" folder and select "copy"3. Right-click desktop (or anywhere, just another folder) and select "paste"4. Right-click "History" folder on desktop and select "rename"5. Type new name such as "Bistory"6. Go to start>run and enter "regedit" (or appropriate registry editor name)7. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Extensible Cache8. Select the "Extensible Cache" key in left pane.9. From registry menu item select "export registry file...."10. Save the reg file to some location and with some name you will remember. I'll use "IEHist.reg".Those are all the files needed to restore the IEHistory to another w9x/ME (and I'm not certain about XP or 2000) computer that uses IE 5 or 6. I've done it in w98 and ME, moved histories back and forth between machines. At this point you can zip'em up and store on removable media.My computer also had another "User Data" subkey to "extensible Cache". I opened the exported reg file in notepad and deleted the entire section of the reg file used for that key. (Keys always have a blank line preceding them, so I deleted from a blank line immediately before the "User Data" keyname to the next blank line and made certain that a blank line remained to separate keys). You may wish to prevent carrying an extra regkey to another computer in the same way.To put this history into another computer:1. In windows copy the "Bistory" folder. Right-click "Bistory" and select copy.2. Right click "windows" folder of c: and select paste.3. Now do the same for "IEHist.reg" 4. Go to start>run and enter regedit (or appropriate registry editor name)5. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings.0\Cache\Extensible Cache6. If "Extensible Cache" subkey contains subkeys other than the many MSHISTXXXXXXX subkeys, then you may wish to export those subkeys.7. Select the "Extensible Cache" key in left pane.8. From edit menu Delete the "Extensible Cache" key.9. If you exported any subkeys in step 6, import those reg files now.10. Reboot to DOS so the History folder can be deleted.11. Type deltree c:\windows\history , and then Enter12. Type cd windows ,and then Enter13. Type attrib -s Bistory , and then Enter14. Type ren Bistory History ,and then Enter15. Type attrib +s History ,and then Enter. 16. Import the key saved with the History folder in the first part. Type regedit IEHist.reg , and then EnterNow windows has both the same history folder containing the IEHistory from the first computer and the appropriate registry keys to know where the history subfolders are located.This was an interesting page I saw reading up on IEHistory. Especially sections 5 & 6. I kept getting freaked out because nothing I'd tried would make the mshistxxxxxxxxxx subfolders visible at command line. You have to attrib -s to the parent folders to see the child folders, very odd.

[DotFlunky]

From what I've read in this document you may be able to copy the folder from "safe mode with command prompt".

I meant to say "recovery console", but maybe the other would also. Like I said, they aren't my OSs, xp and 2000.

[-ct-]

whee, got a new mobo, so i figure it's time for a fresh install of 2k (even though i can do it w/o a fresh install, no one can come up with a solution for my tweakui/scroll by 3 lines problem (which has happened AGAIN in a totally different system, and right after a default install of office2k, but i'm getting offtrack kere) ) so, time to apply the toolz from this thread herebuti run 2k, and the procedure just doesn't work the samehas anyone here tried this yet on 2k/xp?

[zlim]

Some of the Window's updates break things. I can't get a light arrow or a replacement icon to appear on shortcuts. I've been through uninstalling and reinstalling tweakui, trying an earlier version of X-teq, and editing the registry and nothing works. Maybe you have the same problem.

[ibe98765]

This is a post I did about 1 month ago in the Tips section about moving system level files around. Might be of use to some here:---------------------------------------------------This for WinXP Pro:Ever want to move your precious settings off of the C: drive (out of C:\Documents and Settings\....) so they aren't wiped if you do a reformat and reinstall (cookies, favorites, history, etc.)? Using TweakUI or X-Setup, you can access SOME of the folders but not all of them.You can do this by going to the registry directly using the keys below.[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache][HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Volatile Environment][HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders][HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]Export each of these keys to a .REG file and save them somewhere (I use D:\Data\Registry Saves). Edit the files to change the default locations to wherever you want to save the settings to (I generally use D:\My Documents). Tip: Remember that in .REG files you need 2 slashes (\\) between file names.Now create the new folder structure and copy the original files to the new locations. When done with the copies, run the .REG files by double-left-clicking on them. Then reboot. Check the registry that the changes took. If not, run the .REG files again. I had to do this a few times at first, until the changes took.Now, if you have occasion to rebuild your system, you can save most of your settings. Just run the .REG files and Windows will look for your settings on whatever secondary drive you stored them on (D:, E:, whatever). This will save you a lot of time in getting a rebuilt system up to snuff.Tip: If you do this, you will have a problem with the cookies folder. Your old cookies won't be recognized regardless. The trick to solve this issue is to export and then import all the cookies in the folder. This apparently rebuilds the index.dat file in the cookies folder.Notes:1. Even though I have my desktop folder stored on the D: drive, Windows still won't let me delete the empty desktop folder in C:\Documents and settings. Don't know if there is a way to get around this.2. The NTUSER.DAT and NTUSER.INI files are still under C:\Documents and Settings. They are stored under a different key. I've messed around with trying to move these files but haven't been successful. If this can be done, then I believe this is where your application pointers are installed. If you have your applications installed elsewhere than C:, then with these files somewhere other than C:, you wouldn't have to reinstall applications on a rebuild. Of course, you could take a full registry backup before the rebuild but normally, you either won't want to do this because the registry might be corrupted or you simply didn't do it recently and the system crashed on you.

[Prelude76]

dang, never knew it was such a mission to copy/backup your IE history. but i want to mention my biggest pet peeve for IE History and why i always disable it 100%. it keeps of history of whats been accessed on Local Hard Drive too! its bad enough that boss can see what websites you visit, but having access to see you have opened a file called John's Resume.DOC probably is a bad idea. and setting it to 0 days still keeps some history, so i have to disabled history completely thru the GPEDIT.MSC setup in winXP.on topic of browser history, out of curiosity, how is it done in Mozilla? i see two files in my profiles folder: history.dat and history.mab. just copy those 2 files?

[GolfProRM]

on topic of browser history, out of curiosity, how is it done in Mozilla? i see two files in my profiles folder: history.dat and history.mab.  just copy those 2 files?

History.dat is your browser history... I'm not 100% sure what history.mab is, but I think it's related to your address book (in MailNews) view settings... I opened it up in notepad and it seemed to have to do with view settings and nothing related to your browser history. In Firebird's case, there is no history.mab (it's located in the T-bird folder so it's definitely a MailNews thing).

[ibe98765]

but i want to mention my biggest pet peeve for IE History and why i always disable it 100%.  it keeps of history of whats been accessed on Local Hard Drive too!  its bad enough that boss can see what websites you visit, but having access to see you have opened a file called John's Resume.DOC probably is a bad idea. 

I've never seen anything but URL's in my history lists. Are you sure that you've seen your files there? The only way I can see that this MIGHT happen is if you use your browser to access your hard drive files (but I haven't tested this either).