Windows.edb file for indexing searches

Thank you,

Just read the website explanation of the product and it seems like this will work for me. When trying to parse my windows.edb file I get an error saying the edb wasn't closed properly and that I will need to run a recovery on the file. Any thoughts on how to clean up the dirty database?

In the first instance I would ensure that you copy out all of the files out of the directory, not just the Windows.edb file, since there will be transaction logs in the directory.

Once you have the entire folder, then run EseDbViewer again.

Just tried those two tools (the trial of the passware one) and woany's one.
I get instance unavailable errors with EseDbViewer.
And the passware trial errors also, saying it may be created with a later version of windows search.
Is that common?

EseDbViewer uses what ever version of the Esent library installed on the machine it is run on. So if you are running EseDbViewer on an XP machine and you have extracted the "Windows.edb" file (and associated files) from a Vista box then you are likely to run into problems.

I have seen that problem occur with "Contacts.edb" for Windows Live Messenger, so it is highly likely that it will occur with the "Windows.edb" file

The webpage for EseDbViewer explains the above situation.

Try EseDbViewer, which has specific modes for both Windows Search Indexer and Windows Live Messenger and a generic mode which will open any Esent database.

http//www.woanware.co.uk/esedbviewer/

So I've extracted the entire Windows directory from C\ProgramData\Windows including the windows.edb file and pointed EseDBViewer at it. I'm getting the following error, "Error DatabaseDirtyShutdown (JET_errDatabaseDirtyShutdown, … Recovery must first be run to properly complete database operations…)". Generally I've seen this type of error on Exchange DB's, which I understand are similarly structured, which have not been shut down properly.

Question How can I clean-up the database so that I can run it through the EseDbViewer? I've also tried parsing the file in EnCase and although it gives me the option to "Clean-up the dirty database" it doesn't parse it correctly. Any helps or tips in the area of properly parsing this database would be greatly appreciated.

Try looking at the following page, it has a number of questions and answers that relate to ESE databases and dealing with corruption

http//social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchangesvradmin/thread/af4f2c0b-219d-4253-b182-b9bbabfc3a4b

Try EseDbViewer, which has specific modes for both Windows Search Indexer and Windows Live Messenger and a generic mode which will open any Esent database.

http//www.woanware.co.uk/esedbviewer/

Try http//www.woanware.co.uk/?page_id=89