User.dat File????

Originally, about 2.5 years ago, I bought SmartProtector Pro to get rid of hijackers and to keep the various dat files clean. Recently I did a search for all files that end in .dat and discovered the user.dat file. I was amazed at what I found, especially the password info! What are the "explicit"/detailed instructions for cleaning this file? Is there a program that really cleans it out (free - not working right now)? Thank you!

 

The files USER.DAT are legit files and do not need to be altered in any way. They contain all user-specific information and SYSTEM.DAT contains all hardware and computer specific information.

 

Ok, but I see password info and I don't want other people to have access to that info. Is there a way to remove that info from that file? What is the purpose of that file? Thanks!

 

Where do you see password information?

 

For ages now I have been recommending Cleanup! from http://www.stevengould.org/
(It works well, FWIW), together with
CrapCleaner, aka CCleaner http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4191
and EmpTemp http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1575 ,
as a 3 pronged attack on stuff accumulated after every net session.

Run all 3. They don't conflict. They are free. Check out the default settings on all 3, and set them the same, because if one program misses something the others are likely to catch and delete it.

USER.dat should not be deleted. If I remember correctly, deleting it will crash your system.. I'd love to know how one can edit/reduce the info in that file.

Don't worry about deleting INDEX.dat, though, as it is re-created the next time you boot up. Bazza

 

bjgarrick - Sometimes I go "exploring" in my computer and look at files in Wordpad or Notepad and this is how I discovered passwords and other info, for example, all of the diskettes I had looked at while searching for a file for my business were recorded in the user file. I didn't know info from the A: would be recorded on the computer and STORED! And over the years I've been amazed at the things I've found or STILL found on my computer. I do counseling, writing and a lot of banking online and I want my computer as secure as possible. Thanks for your help!

bigbazza - Thank you for the links, I'll check them out.

Thanks Everybody! I appreciate the help!

 

I'd still like to know which user.dat file has passwords.

I've checked all the ones on my XP machine and none of them do.

 

Since the operating system wasn't mentioned in any post, I'll add this: user.dat was part of the registry in Windows 98, so messing with it wouldn't be recommended.

 

I am using Windows ME. How would I manually remove info from this file? I know how to use regedit. Thanks.

 

It's up to you if you want to play with it, but you can open it in notepad and edit it, then save.

I suggest you at least make a backup copy before you do anything.

 

Thank You!

 

Best thing I've found in order to clean up user.dat is compacting the Registry. It gets rid of lots of superfluous junk. It's recommended for advanced users and there are instructions on the web for compacting the registry (which is what user.dat is a part of). If you're not an experienced user, I would get guidance before compacting the registry, and use caution by backing up user.dat first, and know how to restore a backup ( run: scanreg /restore in MS/DOS mode)