Microsoft KB Archive/168267

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

Cannot View the History or Temporary Internet Files Folders
Last reviewed: July 11, 1997

Article ID: Q168267



BETA INFORMATION BETA INFORMATION  BETA INFORMATION  BETA

This article discusses a Beta release of a Microsoft product. The information in this article is provided as-is and is subject to change without notice.

No formal product support is available from Microsoft for this Beta product. For information about obtaining support for a Beta release, please see the documentation included with the Beta product files, or check the Web location from which you downloaded the release.

BETA INFORMATION BETA INFORMATION  BETA INFORMATION  BETA

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 3.0, 3.01, 3.02, 4.0 for Windows 95

SYMPTOMS
When you attempt to view the contents of the History or Temporary Internet Files folders, you may experience one of the following symptoms:


 * When you are viewing the History folder, the list of previously visited Web pages may not be listed, but instead there are several Mm .dat files listed, where is a random number.
 * When you are viewing the Temporary Internet Files folder, a list of cached files may not be available, but instead the Cache1, Cache2, Cache3, and Cache4 folders are listed.

CAUSE
These behaviors can occur if the History or the Temporary Internet Files folders have been deleted. Internet Explorer automatically re-creates these folders at startup if they do not exist. However, the Desktop.ini file that is necessary to display the files in these special folders is not re-created properly.

NOTE: This behavior can occur if you use the DELTREE command to remove the History or Temporary Internet Files folder at a command prompt to troubleshoot a problem with Internet Explorer.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, follow these steps:

 Start Internet Explorer, and then click Options on the View menu. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings in the Temporary Internet Files area.  Click the Move Folder button, select the Temporary Internet Files folder in the Browse For Folder window, and then click OK. NOTE: This folder is typically: C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files You are prompted with a message that you must restart Windows to have the new folder take effect.  Click OK or Close until all dialog boxes are closed. Quit Internet Explorer and restart your computer.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Internet Explorer 4.0 Platform Preview 1. This problem does not occur with Internet Explorer 4.0 Platform Preview 2. To obtain Internet Explorer 4.0 Platform Preview 2, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie40/