FIX: The history for the current day (Today) is not cleared when you programmatically clear the history in Internet Explorer 6 SP1 or a later version

When you programmatically clear the history by using the ClearHistory method in one of the versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 that is listed in the "Applies to" section, the history for the current day (Today) is not cleared.

This problem may occur when Microsoft Windows Explorer holds a reference to a Today history item. For example, this problem may occur if a My Computer folder or an intranet share folder is listed in the history for Today.

Note History items are stored in the following location on the hard disk drive:

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Windows 98 and Microsoft Windows Millennium EditionMicrosoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows 2000Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Microsoft Windows XP

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

Steps to reproduce the problem

1. In Internet Explorer, open several Web pages on different Web sites over a period of several days.
2. Create a console program that uses the following code example.

   #include "stdafx.h"
   #include <windows.h>
   #include <shlguid.h>	// Needed for CLSID_CUrlHistory
   #include <urlhist.h>	// Needed for IUrlHistoryStg2 and IID_IUrlHistoryStg2
   
   int main(int argc, char* argv[])
   {
   	IUrlHistoryStg2* pHistory;  // We need this interface to clear the history.
   	HRESULT hr;
   	DWORD cRef;
   
   	CoInitialize(NULL);
   
   	// Load the correct Class and request IUrlHistoryStg2
   	hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_CUrlHistory, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, 
   IID_IUrlHistoryStg2, reinterpret_cast<void **>(&pHistory));
   
   	if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
   	{
   		// Clear the Internet Explorer history.
   		hr = pHistory->ClearHistory();
   	}
   
   	cRef = pHistory->Release();
   
   	CoUninitialize();
   
   	return 0;
   }
   

3. Build and then run the program.
   
   If you view the History folder in Microsoft Windows Explorer, all the history entries except for the Today history will be cleared.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: