Im leaving my computer behind.I want to erase all info that I put in and sites I visited.How do I do this?[I got a dell] I did some on line banking and want to elimenate the info.
2007-05-23 16:04:46 · 10 answers · asked by yp_tim_gillett 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
I am a board certified clinical psychiatrist and have been a contractor for an intelligence agency. There is no software on the market, (no matter what they claim), that will clean your HDD.
A professional forensic computer expert can strip the data off the HDD, no matter if bleach or the Gutman technique is used with wiping over and over the HDD.
There are only two ways to make sure no data is ever recovered from your HDD.
1). Take the disk out and beat it to death with a hammer. No forensic computer expert in the world can strip any data from a HDD, that has been beat to death with a hammer.
2). Remove the HDD, and keep it in your home or safe.
Leave the computer behind, without the HDD.
Minddoctor, France
2007-05-23 16:25:11 · answer #1 · answered by MINDDOCTOR 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there's absolutely nothing on the hard drive you want to save, get it really close to a really powerful magnet.
Seriously though, in the IT department of the college where I work we used DBAN: http://dban.sourceforge.net/.
You'll need to put that program on a floppy disk, boot the computer from the floppy and follow the instructions. Let it run for a few passes and your good to go. Nobody's reading your data now.
Be warned: these steps will destroy all data on the hard drive and to make it useful again, Windows and other software would have to be reinstalled.
Hope this helps.
2007-05-23 16:14:23 · answer #2 · answered by John S 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you want to leave no trace of even the operating system behind. I would check into a program called Derek's Boot and Nuke. Its free and has many different levels of formatting from quick to Dept. of Defense algorithms. We use it at work for all our older computers. Keep in mind this will leave you with a black screen at startup unless you have your Windows Install Cd that came with the computer, but if you have a Dell it might not have come with one. If you did not get one, continuously hit ctrl and the F11 button at startup, this will bring you back to the original way your computer came with all your files erased. Keep in mind if someone still realllllly wanted to access your files they could if you did the ctrl F11 they wont with the Nuke and Boot.
2007-05-23 16:12:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have to perform a "secure delete" to remove information permanently. This is the only real way to erase information off of magnetic media. This works by encrypting the data and deleting it many times over until its nothing more than unreadable code. Shredding is another technique but not nearly as effective. Also. The US Dept of Defense endorse "secure delete" as the only way to permanently remove data.
Hope this helps.
http://www.delete-computer-history.com/internet-privacy-software.html
2007-05-23 23:44:02 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are multiple programs out there that will completely erase your hard drive. Go to Yahoo or Google and type "Erase Hard drive". Several of them have demos or downloads you can use for free.
If you aren't worried about it being super clean, you can always, just do an FDISK, then reformat it. For the normal person that will work.
2007-05-23 16:10:07 · answer #5 · answered by QA Wizard 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction."
"DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spyware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis."
Free at:
http://dban.sourceforge.net/
2007-05-23 16:14:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The easiest is to just to reinstall windows. If you don't want to do that hopefully you can do a system restore to the date that you first used the computer. that may not work though. Best way is to reinstall windows.
2007-05-23 16:09:22 · answer #7 · answered by donjrjrjr2929 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
depends on how hard they are going to look you can uninstall the old stuff via control panel delete your temp internet files from internet options menu in IE or tools menu in firefox. make sure you clear the recycle bin if you think they are going to look deeper like at the files you deleted (it can be done if they are clever enough) you might want to try a program like axcrypt to shred the files which means they will be unrecoverable.
2016-05-21 06:28:52 · answer #8 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Download Webroots Window Washer.
It is a free 30 day trail.
it erases everything from
IE Cache (TIF), IE cookies, IE History (sites visted), IE address bar (history), cleans out Recycle bin, and many more stuff.
2007-05-23 16:11:20 · answer #9 · answered by Guy 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's a Dell. Just burn it!
2007-05-23 16:12:00 · answer #10 · answered by mark b 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋