HistorySweep 2.2 - User Guide and FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - HistorySweep

1. I am running AOL 9.0 and HistorySweep can't find my history files, what should I do?
   You'll need to go into the HistorySweep Control Panel on the Settings tab and customize the AOL path. You should be able to click the folder next to the edit box to bring up a directory finder window. You will need to find the location where AOL 9.0 keeps its files. We were able to locate it in the following directory but it may be different on your machine: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AOL\C_America Online 9.0\organize\. Additionally you can click the "Locate" button and HistorySweep will attempt to locate all version of AOL that is installed. You can select which version you want HistorySweep to sweep history for. Once you set the AOL9 organize directory you can go into the AOL Browser tab and check "Sweep them all". Also choose which AOL profile you want to clear and then you can click Analyze Risk to see if it detects the drop down list (it should say something other than 0 bytes). Or click Sweep to clear it.
   
   
2. Why doesn't it clear the websites in my AOL URL drop down box?
   AOL doesn't save this information to disk until you close AOL. Close AOL, sweep your history with HistorySweep, and then re-launch.
   
   
3. Why are those files left over when I sweep all Internet Explorer Files?
   Internet Explorer is tightly intergrated with Windows. Windows locks some of the Internet Explorer files so they cannot be deleted in Windows. Internet Explorer uses three main Index.dat files (Cache, Cookies, and History). These files are locked by Windows and cannot be deleted normally. There is a "Delete Index.dat Files on reboot" option located on the Internet Explorer tab (requires reboot). Windows also uses some files that contain no history information to control the look of some file folders. These files are not deleted.
   
   
4. What does AutoSweep when all Browsers are closed do?
   HistorySweep detects which browsers you have open. When you close all browsers of that browser type (IE, AOL, Netscape, or Opera) HistorySweep clears the selected history information for that browser type automatically.
   
   
5. What does AutoSweep in Stealth Mode mean?
   When HistorySweep performs an automatic operation such as killing a Popup or sweeping history it shows a small tooltip window in the lower right hand corner. When AutoSweep in Stealth Mode is enabled the tooltip window is not displayed for automatic operations.
   
   
6. How does the Popup Killer work?
   HistorySweep uses a Browser Helper Object to detect when Internet Explorer tries to open a new window. HistorySweep will automatically stop all new Internet Explorer windows from opening. If Stealth Mode is not enabled, HistorySweep will popup a tooltip window letting you know when a Popup has been killed. If you would like to open a new window you can hold down the CTRL key and click the link to open it in a new window. If you will like to suspend the Popup Killer you can toggle the Scroll Lock key. When the Scroll Lock key is enabled the Popup Killer will not keep new windows from opening.
   
   
7. What does HistorySweep Alpha Blend Transparency do?
   Under Windows 2000/XP you can set the transparency of the HistorySweep window with this setting. When the window is partially transparent you can see through the window to the windows and desktop behind the window.
   
   
8. What does the Boss Key do?
   When the Boss Key is pressed (CTRL-ALT-SPACE) all browser windows that you have open will be hidden. When you press the Boss Key again the browsers will be visible once more. This allows you to prevent others from seeing where you are currently surfing.