Originally posted by Bethany, 11/17/2004:
http://www.survivinginfidelity.com/forums.asp?tid=38240
Q: My WS has deleted all the emails from her hotmail/yahoo account. How can I retrieve them?
A: Those emails were stored on hotmail/yahoo’s server, not your computer. So, once you tell hotmail or yahoo to delete them, the actual emails are gone forever. However, “ghosts” (for lack of a better word) of those emails do reside on your computer for a short period of time as HTML files in the Temporary Internet Files folders.
Q: How do I view the Temporary Internet File folder?
A: On XP and Windows 98 – Open Internet Explorer. Along the top tool bar, chose Tools --> Internet Options --> “Settings” (under Temporary Internet files) --> “View Files.” A huge file folder with a gazillion files should open. (Note: There should be hundreds of files in this folder. If there are not many files present, that is a red flag that you’re someone is hiding something by cleaning up after his/her internet use. See below for more info.) Once in the Temporary Internet Files folder, you’re going to look for HTML files from hotmail or yahoo or whathaveyou. You can sort the files by name, type or date of last modification.
Q: If the HTML file version of the hotmail emails have been deleted from the Temporary Internet File Folder, is there anything else I can do?
A: Yes. You can likely find some deleted of those deleted HTML or text files by using a one of many programs out there for recovering deleted files. I like Recover My Files at www.recovermyfiles.com. The demo version is free and that’s all you need for this purpose. The full version is $70 and with it you can actually “recover” the file. You want need to recover these files; you just want to view them.
Recover My Files is easy to use and allows you to narrow your search to just HTML and text files, the ones you want. You can also limit your search by “filtering” the search for only files containing the word “’yahoo” or “hotmail” or what ever.
Be aware that the search can take a long time, like an hour or more for the quickest search, several hours for the more in-depth search. Also, programs like these will only be able to find some of the emails, not all.
Q: How do I change the settings so that files will stay in the Temporary Internet File folder longer?
A: On XP and Windows 98 – Open Internet Explorer. Along the top tool bar, chose Tools > Internet Options > “Settings” (under Temporary Internet files) > Move the slide bar under “Amount of Disk Space to Use” to the left, increasing the disk space allotted to the folder.
Q: My WS has deleted everything from the History Folder. How can see where s/he’s been on the internet?
A: The index.dat file. First, you’ll need to download an index.dat file reader. Google that term and you’ll find several free ones. They are simple programs, but some can be very confusing to use. Once you’ve downloaded the reader, you’ll need to find the dat file if the program doesn’t do it for you (which it usually does).
Here’s where the important index.dat file lives on XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
Q: How do I find hidden files and folders?
On Windows 98: Open any folder on your computer. Along the top toolbar, chose: View > Folder Options > View Tab > Check the radio button that says "Show hidden files and folders."
On XP: Open any folder on your computer. Along the top toolbar, chose: Tools > Folder Options > View Tab > Check the radio button that says "Show hidden files and folders."
