Knowledge Base

FIX: The history for the current day (Today) is not cleared when you programmatically clear the history in Internet Explorer 6 SP1 or a later version

Article ID: 897169

Article Last Modified on 8/29/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 6 (SP1)
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 Service Pack 2

SYMPTOMS

When you programmatically clear the history by using the ClearHistory method in one of the versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 that is listed in the "Applies to" section, the history for the current day (Today) is not cleared.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when Microsoft Windows Explorer holds a reference to a Today history item. For example, this problem may occur if a My Computer folder or an intranet share folder is listed in the history for Today.

Note History items are stored in the following location on the hard disk drive:

C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\History

RESOLUTION

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that this article describes. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, submit a request to Microsoft Online Customer Services to obtain the hotfix. To submit an online request to obtain the hotfix, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6294451

Note If additional issues occur or any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. To create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Windows 98 and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

   Date         Time   Version         Size       File name     
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   13-May-2005  18:59  6.0.2800.1660   1,338,368  Shdocvw.dll

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows 2000

   Date         Time   Version        Size       File name     
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   13-May-2005  18:59  6.0.2800.1660  1,338,368  Shdocvw.dll

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Microsoft Windows XP

   Date         Time   Version        Size       File name     
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   13-May-2005  16:42  6.0.2900.2676  1,485,312  Shdocvw.dll

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

Steps to reproduce the problem

In Internet Explorer, open several Web pages on different Web sites over a period of several days.

Create a console program that uses the following code example.

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <windows.h>
#include <shlguid.h>  // Needed for CLSID_CUrlHistory
#include <urlhist.h>  // Needed for IUrlHistoryStg2 and IID_IUrlHistoryStg2

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    IUrlHistoryStg2* pHistory;  // We need this interface to clear the history.
    HRESULT hr;
    DWORD cRef;

    CoInitialize(NULL);

    // Load the correct Class and request IUrlHistoryStg2
    hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_CUrlHistory, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, 
IID_IUrlHistoryStg2, reinterpret_cast<void **>(&pHistory));

    if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
    {
        // Clear the Internet Explorer history.
        hr = pHistory->ClearHistory();
    }

    cRef = pHistory->Release();

    CoUninitialize();

    return 0;
}

Build and then run the program.

If you view the History folder in Microsoft Windows Explorer, all the history entries except for the Today history will be cleared.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

Additional query words: internetexplorer6sp1 internetexplorer6sp2 ie6sp1 ie6sp2 history folder internet explorer shell

Keywords: kbautomation kbfix kbbug kbmsccsearch kbpubtypekc kbhotfixserver KB897169

Microsoft KB Archive/897169

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