HOW TO CLEAN COMPUTER

B

BIG 6

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 30, 2002
Messages
1
What and how would you clean your computer of any information that was private that you wouldnt want anyone to see.
 
do u need the computer anymore?
if not, or even if u do but u wanna start from fresh... AND if you have a full version of an operating system.. theres only one way to go
c :\ format c
muahaha.
with newer operating systems i believe if u reinstall (or a "system recovery disk" is used) it should wipe all data off
 
this isnt a legal question...
anyway, the only way to have something that no one can see is to have it highly encrypted
either that or dont have it at all
reformatting your hardrive doesnt completely erase it, just so you know
 
why not get a new hard drive? new ones are pretty cheap and hold a ton of memory
 
There are plenty of software packages available that are designed to permanently erase all data from your computer drives.
For the peace of mind of knowing that your data will never be recovered that would be the best way to go.
Run a search for software of this type and plenty of product names will come up.
 
I believe that the only ones that will stand up to professional prying are ones that render that spot on the hard drive unusable. But mabey technology has progressed since I was in to that stuff.
 
With Windows, you are on your own - IExplore, the Explorer and Office practically scatter "evidence" all over the place. The only way to securely clean your system is to format the hard drive, re-install the operating system, and make sure you simply do not download, mail or message objectionable material anymore. Programs such as "Evidence Eliminator" are scams, do not fall into this trap!
There are methods to partly recover data even after you have formatted the drive, but these are very costly so this possibility is theoretical for most purposes. If your data is that sensitive, damage the media physically and start afresh with a new install.
(I made a routine of breaking all media I throw away since I saw two garbage workers take two of my roommate's old HD's out of the trashcan :eek: )
[ 01 October 2002: Message edited by: skydancer ]
 
There are tool out there which write over each byte on your hard drive with a 0.
Even formatting still leaves data that computer forensic scientist (the police) could still find. This is because format doesn't actually write over your old data, just de-references it and creates a new file allocation table.
[edit; becuase I wrote a load of garbled stonned rubish]
[ 01 October 2002: Message edited by: Johny Boy ]
 
Even formatting still leaves data that computer forensic scientist (the police) could still find. This is because format doesn't actually write over your old data, just de-references it and creates a new file allocation table.
You are describing a quick format, but most installation tools (IIRC Windows 2000/XP as well) give you the choice of either full zero-ing or a quickie.
What I meant is, even if you overwrite it with zeros, there is some residu of the former information. This is still recoverable in a forensic lab, but it is manual labour and the price goes by the kilobyte.. :)
Click to expand...
 
^ That doesn't mean it should stay open!
Sometimes admins like to babble a bit in an off-topic thread, as well. It will get closed but still be informative, no harm done!
That said, CLOSED .. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top