I dont think I have anything major on there, but address, name, history of websites etc....so any trace of me is well.........untraceable
Thanks in advance, you guys are always helpful.
2006-12-27 00:54:40 · 11 answers · asked by bluewatchgirl 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
I'd wipe the drive and reinstall Windows at the very least. Even that won't guarantee absolute security of your information. The only way to do that with absolute certainty is to take a hammer to the hard drive and install a new hard drive. That's the procedure that the government uses on machines that process classified information -- play Whack-A-Mole with the hard drives.
FYI, it's generally not possible to do a low-level format of an IDE drive. It's possible on some but you must use the drive manufacturer's tool for the exact model of the drive. Using the wrong tool to low level format an IDE drive will brick it permanently.
But as a practical matter, a fresh install of Windows will suffice for most folks.
2006-12-27 01:30:10 · answer #1 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally to be safe I would do a low-level format. This will wipe the entire drive and fill the empty space with zeros. With a normal format information can still be retrieved with the proper software. With normal deletion or formatting the data can still be on the drive but the system has just made the area on the drive available for future writting so if no new data has been written to that sector it can still be retrieved. Do a google search for a low-level formatting tool. You should be able to find one that can be accessed from a boot disk. Seagate offers one in there Seatools package available at there website. After doing this the hardrive will be completly new and blank (NO OS or anything)
Goodluck
2006-12-27 01:03:09 · answer #2 · answered by Steven M 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well for your information, unless you overwrite the hard disk a minimum of 21 times, there is always a possibility of recovering the data from it.
But still, if you do not have any confidential, top secret or for your eyes only stuff on it, reformatting it (complete, not the quick one) a couple of times should do the trick. Also in case the HDD was in FAT filesystem, it would be better to format it in NTFS a couple of times or vice-versa.
All the best.
2006-12-27 01:01:54 · answer #3 · answered by majamanpuri 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best thing to do would be to use the CD that came with it from the factory and wipe it out. It will put Windows back on it usually as well. If you don't have that CD, I would format the hard drive and let them install Windows on their own. You'll never be able to find all your data, it gets put everywhere and anywhere.
2006-12-27 00:56:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There should be a CD that came with your laptop when you bought it. Install that CD and click on restore operating system to it's original state. Or something to that effect. It will wipe out everything and reinstall your system. Then you'll be good to go!
2006-12-27 00:57:46 · answer #5 · answered by capnemo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no shaggy dog tale , microsoft even says this on there website , wreck the tricky force into products and burn it with a blow torch , despite in case you reformatt there are courses which could get better all deleted archives off of your tricky force. I propose i reformatted my workstation a 12 months in the past and that i used records restoration utility and that i stumbled on maximum of my previous records from a 12 months and a 0.5 in the past in suited subject like passwords and faculty paintings that i deleted. extreme do a sprint prognosis in this and you will see that your in straightforward terms selection is to break that tricky force and replace a clean one.
2016-11-23 19:26:45 · answer #6 · answered by hannigan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only way to be sure is to re-format your hard drive. Do a new installation of the Windows operating system.
2006-12-27 00:56:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
well u need to use evidence eliminator its not free but its th best in the business. noone i repeat even its tested against fbi data recovery system ..
www.evidence-eliminator.com
2006-12-27 02:39:32 · answer #8 · answered by Neo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would reimage the system using the factory discs...
that will restore the system to factory default and destroy all your data.
-dh
2006-12-27 01:10:06 · answer #9 · answered by delicateharmony 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you need to reformat the hdd , but it might still be recovered should that person had special software to recover delete files.
2006-12-27 01:11:18 · answer #10 · answered by Netasia Solutions 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋