Dude, Where's My History?

AZ_Dawn · Jun 17, 2011

Something strange happened this week in IE9. I clicked on Favorites, then the History tab, and...my previously visited sites weren't listed. All the History showed was the the computer files I had opened that day. Sure, I still have the browser histories for the past few weeks, but no new links are being added.

The History function comes in handy to me. Does anyone know how to get it to show previously visited sights again? Thanks!

alleycat · Jun 17, 2011

I have IE9, but I'm using Firefox at the moment. I'm doing this a little in the blind.

Could you have changed any of your settings by accident (for example, whether to keep your browsing history)?

Have you just closed IE and brought it up again? Sometimes there are glitches for one reason or the other.

Do you have InPrivate enabled?

AZ_Dawn · Jun 17, 2011

alleycat said:
Could you have changed any of your settings by accident (for example, whether to keep your browsing history)?

I attempted to change the appearance of the tabs (they were too dark), but I'm not sure if I changed anything related to the history. It's not out of the realm of possibility.

Have you just closed IE and brought it up again? Sometimes there are glitches for one reason or the other.

I've opened and closed it for log off purposes and nothing's changed. If it's a glitch, it's a persistant one.

Do you have InPrivate enabled?

I don't know. I'm not entirely sure what InPrivate is, let alone if it's enabled.

alleycat · Jun 17, 2011

If you have InPrivate turned on, you should see it on the toolbar.

You can get to InPrivate by going to Tools > InPrivate Browsing.

alleycat · Jun 17, 2011

You might check your settings under Tools > Internet Options > General > Browsing History > Advanced.

If something doesn't look right, let me know and I'll check it against what I have. I have switched from FF to IE9 for the time being.

alleycat · Jun 17, 2011

You might also check this.

Tools > Internet Options > Content > AutoComplete > Settings, and be sure Browsing History is checked.

AZ_Dawn · Jun 17, 2011

alleycat said:
If you have InPrivate turned on, you should see it on the toolbar.

Tools > Internet Options > Content > AutoComplete > Settings, and be sure Browsing History is checked.

InPrivate is off and Browsing History is checked.

You might check your settings under Tools > Internet Options > General > Browsing History > Advanced.

If something doesn't look right, let me know and I'll check it against what I have. I have switched from FF to IE9 for the time being

Unfortunately, the version I have only goes up to Browsing History. After that, I get a choice between Delete and Settings, neither of which seem to help.

alleycat · Jun 17, 2011

Do you have a lot of extras added to your browser?

Microsoft usually has some "fix it" options on their website (in some cases it's almost like you uninstall IE and reinstall it as the "fix it" restores IE to its original state). It usually removes any add-on you've got.

alleycat · Jun 17, 2011

This is one "fix it" I found, but it says it doesn't work on Windows 7.

Note This fix does not work in Windows 7. Instead, you can use the Internet Explorer troubleshooters to achieve this automatically.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737

Matera the Mad · Jun 17, 2011

When did you install IE9?
What version of Windows do you have, 7? (I'm Vista)
You got Windows Updates this week, yes?
There have been some changes to the IE History location with IE9. I just found a fascinating -- if a little hard to follow -- thread in an IE9 forum about this problem. It sent me running off to look at
C:\Users\Matera\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History
and its subfolders, since I only recently installed 9-er for research purposes.

It seems that IE9, at some point in its development, acquired the knack of confusing itself about where its history is/should be.

ETA: I can't stop the forum from inserting a space in the word "History" in the folder path, turning it into "Hi story". If you see a space there, don't worry, it is just your web browser hallucinating. It's driving me nertz. I can't tell if it's really there or not, because it's not there until I save the post. So if you don't see it, ignore this.

alleycat · Jun 17, 2011

Matera, I see the extra space in history.

Matera the Mad · Jun 17, 2011

Thanks. I didn't think I was that Mad. Drat vBulletin. :tongue

AZ_Dawn · Jun 18, 2011

Thanks, guys!

alleycat said:
This is one "fix it" I found, but it says it doesn't work on Windows 7.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737

I tried it yesterday; it cleared my History, but it still only shows the computer stuff. :e2bummed:

Matera the Mad said:
When did you install IE9?

Sometime around May 20.

What version of Windows do you have, 7? (I'm Vista)

You got Windows Updates this week, yes?

Vista, updated this week.

There have been some changes to the IE History location with IE9. I just found a fascinating -- if a little hard to follow -- thread in an IE9 forum about this problem.

Hard to follow, indeed! :Wha:

I sort of get that there's a glitch somewhere, but beyond that I may have to ask more tech savvy relatives to translate.

Matera the Mad · Jun 18, 2011

Wish I could be more help, but I don't keep IE history enough to observe any weirdnesses myself, and it's a bit too far for me to peek into your computer (unless you want to install VNC and...oh, nevermind). I was thinking, though, that a recent wupdate might have triggered the mess. That doesn't help much, except to give you something to blame it on. :ROFL:

AZ_Dawn · Jun 19, 2011

Well, you tried.

Matera the Mad said:
I was thinking, though, that a recent wupdate might have triggered the mess. That doesn't help much, except to give you something to blame it on.

Works for me. :evil

Matera the Mad · Jun 20, 2011

Thought you might like to know -- Infernal Excrescence is pulling an even better one on me now. It has suddenly become totally blind to teh Interwebz. Oh, and there is no history anywhere. Happened overnight for no reason I can fathom.

Good thing I don't really need it.

AZ_Dawn · Jun 21, 2011

Matera the Mad said:
Thought you might like to know -- Infernal Excrescence is pulling an even better one on me now. It has suddenly become totally blind to teh Interwebz. Oh, and there is no history anywhere. Happened overnight for no reason I can fathom.

Oh man, that stinks!

Strangely enough, my History came back yesterday; now it's listing the website I visited these past two days. Sounds like I might need to look for a backup browser just in case.

alleycat · Jun 21, 2011

AZ_Dawn said:
Strangely enough, my History came back yesterday; now it's listing the website I visited these past two days. Sounds like I might need to look for a backup browser just in case.

Sometimes it just work out that way. That's why (if simple steps don't work) the best thing to do is often just to clean out the cookies and cache and other temporary files and reboot the computer.

I have both IE9 and Firefox 4. I used to also have Chrome, but I removed it. Since I wasn't using it, I didn't like having the updates run.

I'm glad you got your history working again.

Matera the Mad · Jun 22, 2011

I got a portable Chrome, so I can keep it hanging around with less bother. http://portableapps.com/

Wojciehowicz · Jun 22, 2011

This sounds like a variation on a problem IE had back at version 3 when I did desktop support. Sadly, the changes have blown any fixes I could suggest. I will have to watch this thread to see what actually works. Please report back if you successfully fix this or anyone else finds an ironclad solution. I still find a lot of job sites doing IE and account changes willy-nilly and am dreading a worse version of before. I'd rather support DOS again than fix another 3500 workstations.

Matera the Mad · Jun 28, 2011

I got my silly Idiot Exploiter problem fixed today. Mostly just reset stuff (then carefully reinstated a few personal prefs) and switched off NoAds PAC (ad-blocking proxy thingummy). No idea exactly what messed it up; I got lucky and hit the right wotsit.

Also ran across a handy item for fixing connectivity problems. Can't say how much it may have helped me -- I couldn't run it in the Windows profile I needed a fix in, no admin privileges -- but it might be useful to the careless masses:
Complete Internet Repair
It has quite a few tools in its kit, very smart proggie. Free, of course.

Dude, Where's My History?

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