TIF, cookies and history folders were moved (IE7)

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This surely is one spooky or I’m starting to have senior moments.

In January I installed IE7 on my WinXP system. I do not use IE as a web browser. At the time I had a look at the new features etc., did some minor tweaks for security, and noticed that the upgrade changed also some minor things; the TIF and the Cookies folder became hidden.

Sine my latest install of WinXP SP2 6 months ago I have not moved the TIF folder, it is there in the Document and Settings branch.

Yesterday I installed the Fx 2.0.0.2 update. Today I thought it was time for some house cleaning, in this case defragmentation. But first, let’s clean out cache files etc. for the most common. Control Panel – Internet Options – Browsing history/Delete… – Remove everything, click, click, click. I’ve done this many times before and it works OK, a quick look in the TIF folder via this dialog box, Settings, View files shows empty TIF folder, OK. I then also emptied the WMP cache, Fx cache and the Adobe Reader cache.

Before I was to start the defragmentation, I for some reason headed over to Document and SettingsUser nameLocal settings, now I find the TIF folder visible! What? (I am not normally running with showing the super hidden, i.e. protected OS files etc., didn’t this time also).

I head over to the Control Panel, IE settings, Webb history settings. Now it shows for TIF: “E:TempTemporary Internet Files”. What!

Since OS setup I have my temp folder at E:Temp, so that is nothing odd, but why did the TIF move?

I head back to Win Explorer, and the Temp folder; no TIF folder is shown. Sigh. Ah, of course it might be (super) hidden, removes the check mark in settings to show such files & folders, and there it is, TIF folder is in my Temp folder. A check reveals that it is created some 10-15 minutes before I found that the old/original TIF was visible, i.e. probably when I used IE settings to empty TIF folder.

I have one time before seen the TIF folder loose its “magic”, i.e. special folder status, columns etc. That was during another XP installation and the use of Spybot S&D TIF cleaning. post 530,525 This is something different, actually even untill this moment I have not clicked on the “Move folder…” button in IE settings, not even for looking.

TIF folder, original place:
Not hidden anymore, settings point to another though.
Special columns, i.e. Internet address etc. is still there.

New TIF folder:
Super hidden
No special headings, i.e. no “magic”, shows sub folder “Content.IE5” etc.

Now as I’m writing I find, what the heck, it’s not only the TIF; Cookies, History and TIF folders are all created in my Temp folder. These others aren’t so quick&easy to move with a button, so no mistake. Sigh.

Reboot.

Document and SettingsUser nameLocal settings is back to normal, i.e TIF & History are hidden. Hmm, in Swedish Windows History folder is called “Tidigare” (not a direct translation of History), but among the new folders I mentioned in my Temp, there was a “History” folder. Hmm, could be that “History” is hard coded and is the OS name and is only translated if needed.

The new folders are still in the Temp folder, and hidden, after the reboot.

Finally a check at IE settings via CP. Now it shows the correct path and place (Document and Settings,,,). You know what, before the reboot when I looked at the TIF settings in IE settings dialog, it showed 50 MB disk space allocated. I have never changed that since install, and it used to be 640 MB. Now after the reboot, it’s back to 640 MB. I hate I didn’t take a screenshot.

Ah well, a lost hour, time for some coffee, and back to business with that house cleaning.

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I have given up trying to understand how these things work. My TIF folder is named “Tijdelijke Internet-Bestanden” (the Dutch translation of Temporary Internet Files). however, a year and a half ago, a folder named “Temporary Internet Files” was created. It contains some subfolders and index files, but as far as I can tell, it is not used by Internet Explorer. I just let it be…

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I think Windows Media Player also uses the TIF folder. Perhaps it or another of the various media programs has not been fully localized?

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I do have an English-language version of Windows Media Player 11, but as far as I can tell, it doesn’t use the English “Temporary Internet Files” folder either…

It doesn’t really matter – there’s plenty of room on my hard disk, a superfluous folder doesn’t bother me.

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Hi Hans,
Yes, even though you and I, and many others, know our way around the OS, some things remains a mystery.

My first thought, when I saw that it came back to normal (hidden, correct path etc.) after the reboot, was that it somehow cleaned the cache by moving it temporarily and then deleting from the new place, and it didn’t delete in my case before reboot. Silly, I know. But trying to understand this is really hard.

Where did your extra TIF folder pop up?

Anyhow, my little passus about the name of a folder was not the main issue, As with any OS language version there are some localised names. In Swedish Windows the TIF folder is called Temporary Internet Files, Cookies folder is called, no surprise, Cookies.

When I said that TIF & History were back to normal, I intentionally used the English OS names for better understanding. In my case History folder is called Tidigare (roughly translated: earlier, prior, former or previous). There were no problems that it had been renamed. But as I said the “copy” folder in my Temp folder was named History, and it contains the usual History.IE5.

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Both “Tijdelijke Internet-bestanden” and “Temporary Internet Files” are under C:Documents and SettingsHansLocal Settings. My single history folder, named “Geschiedenis” (the Dutch translation of History) is under the same folder.

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Hi Argus,
I agree with Hans. Perhaps it is the work of the Swedish Trolls?
—————————————————————
Troll kalla mik
tungl sj

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Your poem looks more like Icelandic than Swedish to me…

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This is in “Old Norse” language, ( the language of the Vikings, almost! ) so Icelandic would also fit.

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Bob,
Trolls, yes, why not, when it comes to computers I’m inclined to belive almost everything.

Though, I must say that I can barely understand 5 % of your added poem.

And as Hans says, and I think you know, it is Icelandic, probably from Snorre Sturlasson’s Prose Edda (the only old book/saga I know from Iceland), and sure enough a check shows it’s from Sk

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