Clearing the Browser Pages record under the insert Hyperlink?

[Jason 715]

I've tried deleting temporary internet files and file history in the general
internet options menu; I've also tried going into the "Documents and
Settings" user folders for me and "All Users" to delete the "Temporary
Internet Files," "History," and other temporary files but I still get a list
of files and webpages in the last "Browsed Pages." Actually, some of these
files in "Browsed Pages" are new and some very old. Where do the office
programs pull these files from so that I can delete this record?

Jason

 

[Gary Smith]

You're looking at the history data used by IE, which is distinct from that
used by Office.

Try \Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent

 

[Jason 715]

Gary,

Thanks but I failed to mention that I had also done this as well (You mean
from this line: C:\Documents and Settings\Tom\Application
Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent.). I've cleared all these files and still have
remnant links. Where does Microsoft Office products pull and store this
information because I've tried deleting everything, it seems, and the
"browsed pages" references are still there! There must be someway to clear
this and refresh the programs. All programs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.,
show the same two dozen references.

The suggestions made about clearing the recent folder and Internet Explorer
do clear pages just accessed but there are pages a month or so old still
being held in the "Browsed Pages" option of the "Insert Hyperlink" dialog box.

 

[Jason 715]

I found out that the web pages that I cannot delete in the "insert Hyperlink"
"Browsed Pages" area of Microsoft Office programs are being stored somewhere
on the registry. Even uninstalling Microsoft Office will not get rid of this.

Does anyone know where in the registry these files are; and how do you get
rid of them? It seems that if the files were held for a time, say a week or
more, and somehow ended up being permanent in the "Browsed Pages" are.The
links cannot be deleted thorough IE temp. file cleanup, deleting files in the
"recent" folder, or other typical temporary file locations on the hard drive.

Jason

 

[Gary Smith]

When you post a question, please put all the details in the body of the
message. When I read your first post, I couldn't see the entire Subject
line and thus didn't pick up on the "inset hyperlink" part.

When I go into IE and delete items from my Hostory, they also disappear
from the Browsed Pages list under Insert Hyperlink. Are the ones that
won't go away perhaps typed URLs? These are addresses that you've typed
or pasted into the Address Bar and will be visible when you click the
arrow at the end of the bar. They're stored in the registry rather
than in the History files. They don't get cleared when you clear the
history. There are several ways to get rid of them:

1. Edit the registry,
2. Use the Clear function, which clears other things as well and is OS
version-dependent,
3. Use a third-party tool such as EditURLs (http://aandrc.com/editurls/).

If you want more information on any of these, I'll be happy to expand on
them.

Gary,

Thanks but I failed to mention that I had also done this as well (You mean
from this line: C:\Documents and Settings\Tom\Application
Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent.). I've cleared all these files and still have
remnant links. Where does Microsoft Office products pull and store this
information because I've tried deleting everything, it seems, and the
"browsed pages" references are still there! There must be someway to clear
this and refresh the programs. All programs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.,
show the same two dozen references.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Jason,

You may have already cleared these, but in general:

For the files listed in the Office dialog for
Insert=>Hyperlink (Ctrl-K) (shared among Office Apps),
shortcuts that appear in these (often hidden) folders:

1. 'Recent Files' are usually based in Application Data 'Recent' folders.
Start with

<drive>:\Documents and Settings\[userID]\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent



2. 'Browsed Pages' start from

a. your Document Settings 'Recent' Folders in Windows Explorer
<drive>\Documents and Settings\[your UserID]\Recent

and
b. your Internet Explorer 'History' folder either in

<drive>\Documents and Settings\[your UserID]\Local Settings\History

or in Internet Explorer use Tools=>Internet Options=>General=[Delete History]


Note: The listings for the Office' Insert=>Hyperlink Dialog may include content from
the folders for UserIDs other than the one currently in use
and those may also need to be cleared if the initial steps above
don't resolve the problem. These other areas include accounts/user IDs of:

'all users'
'default user'
'Owner' and/or
'Administrator'

If clearing the *shortcuts* stored in the folder for your User ID
first, close your Office apps then clear your Recycle Bin
(check it first to see what's there) then
next use Start=>Search, and in Search options set the Advanced choices
to look for

'Folder' file type,
'hidden' attribute
'Recent' folder name.

Choose a 'Recent' folder in the search results and double click it. If the file list
resembles files you saw in the Office app 'Recent Files' listing under Insert=>Hyperlink (Ctrl+K)
then select all of the shortcuts listed (ctrl+A) in that Search Window for just one 'Recent' folder and send the 'shortcuts' there to the recycle bin with the delete key. Leave the search
Window open.

Restart Word, type Ctrl+K and see if the Recent Files list is empty (or shorter).
If not, on your desktop double click the recycle bin, select the files (Ctrl+A) and
choose File=>Restore, then repeat the processs through the other 'Recent' folders.

=======
Gary,

Thanks but I failed to mention that I had also done this as well (You mean
from this line: C:\Documents and Settings\Tom\Application
Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent.). I've cleared all these files and still have
remnant links. Where does Microsoft Office products pull and store this
information because I've tried deleting everything, it seems, and the
"browsed pages" references are still there! There must be someway to clear
this and refresh the programs. All programs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.,
show the same two dozen references.

The suggestions made about clearing the recent folder and Internet Explorer
do clear pages just accessed but there are pages a month or so old still
being held in the "Browsed Pages" option of the "Insert Hyperlink" dialog box. >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

Pricing and Packages for '2007 Microsoft Office System'
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

 

[Jason 715]

Gary (and Bob),

Thanks for the comments. I've now tried all your advice and still have the
problem. In fact, I have a mixture of recent web pages and files visited
which consistantly stay in the "Browsed Pages" of the "Insert Hyperlink"
dialog box. Some of these file locations, in fact, no longer exist because
the files were deleted and cleaned from the recycle bin long ago.

There are hundreds of links when I go the "Insert Hyperlink" box; I delete
temporary files and clear internet URL's in recent folder, temp folders, etc
as above and the same forty or so "links" keep showing up after doing so.
They must be in a unique place.

Clearing all files in recent folders (in every user folder), clearing
various histories, and using the "clear" function in the "Customize Classic
Start Menu" dialog box ("remove records of recently accessed documents,
programs, and web sites...") does not get rid of these files though it does
clear recently viewed files and web pages.

I assume, from the comments I've heard, that the URL's as well as file
locations which show up in the "Browsed Pages" box should be searchable. I've
even tried searching for these in the registry to no avail.

Since I think I've deleted every possible place on my C drive where
temporary file "links" are kept and Microsoft might be drawing from, it seems
fromt the comments that these links must be stored in the registry.

Where do I go in the registry to delete these links? Where does Microsoft
store this info.?

Any idea where in the registry I can find these pesky links? Where does
Microsoft software for "Insert Hyperlinks" search for these "Existing File or
Web Page" information? Since I haven't seen these forty "permanent" links
listed anywhere on my hard drive, or in a search on the registry, they must
be in one file like a zip file? This is bizarre.

Thanks all!

Jason

 

[Jason 715]

Gary,

That link you sent me for software to remove links (third-party tool such as
EditURLs (http://aandrc.com/editurls/) did not remove the links; however, the
free version has a function to show what else could be removed and it showed
the links I've been trying to get rid of!

I need to buy the full version to get rid of these (sort of annoying). So
indeed Microsoft is pulling these links somewhere off the registry; any idea
where? Could you expand on the places to get software to remove these links
since the stripped down software version you listed did indeed find them,
finally.

I am curious to know exactly where in the registry these links are being
stored.

Jason

 

[Jason 715]

Gary,

I found a Freeware to remove stored URL history from "NirSoft" at
"http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iehv.html" and it found and deleted the links I
was having trouble removing (it even cleaned the "last files access". It
seems this is the only sure way to clear the "Browsed Page" box. Some of
these files were back to 2005.

Any ideas where in the registry these programs are pulling this information?

Any other software suggestions? I'd like to have a couple programs to make
sure I've cleaned all the personal information off the computer, meaning
pages visited, information entered on websites, tracking info, etc.

Jason

Gary,

That link you sent me for software to remove links (third-party tool such as
EditURLs (http://aandrc.com/editurls/) did not remove the links; however, the
free version has a function to show what else could be removed and it showed
the links I've been trying to get rid of!

I need to buy the full version to get rid of these (sort of annoying). So
indeed Microsoft is pulling these links somewhere off the registry; any idea
where? Could you expand on the places to get software to remove these links
since the stripped down software version you listed did indeed find them,
finally.

I am curious to know exactly where in the registry these links are being
stored.

Jason

 

[Gary Smith]

I suspect that these entries are stoed in the index.dat file in
%userprofile%\Local Settings\History\history.IE5. Evidently the normal
means of clearing history doesn't remove them. I don't want to try it on
this machine, but it looks as though IEHV will clean out all of the
history information. There may be other cleaners that will erase all
tracks, but I haven't been motivated to look into them. I've seen several
recommendations for CCleaner <http://www.ccleaner.com/>. You might want
to have a look at it.

I found a Freeware to remove stored URL history from "NirSoft" at
"http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iehv.html" and it found and deleted the links I
was having trouble removing (it even cleaned the "last files access". It
seems this is the only sure way to clear the "Browsed Page" box. Some of
these files were back to 2005.

 

[Jason 715]

Gary,

I think you are correct: in order to completely clear the "Browsed Pages"
selection in Microsoft applications you have to clear the History index. The
freeware you suggested below, CCleaner, checks for everything in the
registry, not just internet browsed pages and files accessed, but missing
links and other "unused" files. I'm a little nervous about "cleaning" things
from the registry though; I could loose something I need to run a program and
not know it for some time, though the program allows one to make a backup.

Checking on this website I see that Microsoft says that the "History Index
File" can become quite large since files are never deleted
(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=322916). "CCleaner" seems to do the job
(the program I found, "IEHistoryView" also does
this(http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iehv.html), just removes the internet
history of browsed pages so it's not as sweeping as the CCleaner but also
isn't deleting program files off the registry.)

I think you solved the problem. I have a clean computer now. Thanks.

Jason

 

[Gary Smith]

You're welcome. I'm glad I could help.

Gary,

I think you are correct: in order to completely clear the "Browsed Pages"
selection in Microsoft applications you have to clear the History index. The
freeware you suggested below, CCleaner, checks for everything in the
registry, not just internet browsed pages and files accessed, but missing
links and other "unused" files. I'm a little nervous about "cleaning" things
from the registry though; I could loose something I need to run a program and
not know it for some time, though the program allows one to make a backup.

Checking on this website I see that Microsoft says that the "History Index
File" can become quite large since files are never deleted
(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=322916). "CCleaner" seems to do the job
(the program I found, "IEHistoryView" also does
this(http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iehv.html), just removes the internet
history of browsed pages so it's not as sweeping as the CCleaner but also
isn't deleting program files off the registry.)

I think you solved the problem. I have a clean computer now. Thanks.