Temporary Internet Files
The Temporary Internet Files folder contains a copy of the files that constituted the web pages the suspect visited. The next time the web page is requested, only the sections of the page that have changed would be downloaded. In the cache directory, an index.dat maps the pages on the websites to files and directories in the cache. In Windows XP, the files are stored in the following locations:
C:\Documents and Settings\profile_name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\profile_name\UserData\index.dat
The index.dat in the UserData folder holds information about automatic Windows accesses to the Internet such as Windows updates. Each of these facilities contains an important file called index.dat which is primarily a catalog file for the saved information. The index.dat files can catalog the URLs visited, the cookies accepted by the browser and locally cached files linked to the visited URLs.