restoring index.dat file

hi all hope you can shed some light on this for me i used ii system wiper and for some reason i checked the index file ie: to remove any info it was storing now i get when i go to find files - cookies i have a file that is called index but it is a word doc. and i get a message index.dat is locked for editing
by another user
click notify to open a read only copy of the document
and recive a notification when the doucment is no longer in use
when i try opening it i get unreadable info.
im running windows 98se running spy ware and av i tried a google and reverting the drive no luck.
thanks in advance
Phil

ps. the 3 optiond i have in the work doc are
read only
notify
cancel

 

Don't RESTORE the index.dat files in TIFs and Cookies. Just DELETE them once in a while. There's no advantage to reading them, because there's nothing there you need to read. There's no advantage to editing them or keeping them, either.

Search here for index.dat and you'll find some good, some bad, and some lunatic recommendations for getting rid of them. Don't make a big deal out of it. Just delete them once in a while, using what ever method works for you.

 

thanks for the reply wisewiz i feel a bit better knowing that i didn't totally screw things up thank you again

Phil