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Is there a program or way to really erase all the data marked as deleted from my hard drive? When deleting something, it is still there, just not registered anymore.
Sure I could use one of those programs to erase my entire disk, but then I would have to reinstall Windows which takes ages and a lot of my monthly Internet traffic because of the Windows updates. I would like to avoid that.
Why? My computer behaves strangely, I assume someone might have put a Trojan, keylogger or whatever on my computer as I write lots of what one might call radical stuff on the Internet Unfortunately, normal security suites can't find government malware, MS Security Essentials is probably ignoring it deliberately as we all know by now MS is in bed with the NSA.
I don't understand what you mean by this: "Is there a program or way to really erase all the data marked as deleted from my hard drive? When deleting something, it is still there, just not registered anymore."
And how does deleting this data help with your computer's "wonky" behavior?
What Windows OS are you using? What symptoms are you experiencing?
You can find "file shredders" on the net, free. These basically just delete a file or folder, then overwrite that location with junk data and delete it again, which then just says that junk data is recoverable, versus what was there before.
However, in terms of malware, I don't think deleted files are really your issue most of the time. If I were you, I'd use a program like Malwarebytes to do a full system scan and see what it comes up with. If it finds anything, go ahead and delete all of that, then use Ccleaner to do a registry scan, which will often find keys that are no longer associated with whatever you removed, and clean that out.
Also, make sure to use MsConfig to check and see if any malware is set to start up with Windows.
Sometimes you'll see malware that installs a software in startup that simply goes out to the internet at a specified location, downloads the malware right back to the computer. No matter how many times you kill the malware and restart, it gets right back on. So definitely look at what's starting up.
Also take a look at any services you don't recognize by using Services.msc (this and msconfig can be run from the search bar in Start)
Go through your services and your startup and if you don't recognize something, pop open a Google and search the service/program name. See what it tells you.
When that's all said and done, consider using a firewall and a free AV program that does real-time scanning, like Avast. I'd get rid of MSE altogether. With Avast, it will let you know something is up before malware ever fully gets on your computer in the first place.
I don't understand what you mean by this: "Is there a program or way to really erase all the data marked as deleted from my hard drive? When deleting something, it is still there, just not registered anymore."
And how does deleting this data help with your computer's "wonky" behavior?
What Windows OS are you using? What symptoms are you experiencing?
Well, I read that when one deletes files, folders etc. they are still there, but they are simply no longer indexed, thus they can't be found by the operating system. But some nasty nosy Trojan might still find the data.
Well, a couple of times a day my Internet connection seems gone (sites don't load anymore) although it is still active. Like for two minutes or so. And when that happens, my processor seems to do something as I can hear the fan speed and thus noise increase considerably.
I have asked my ISP, they said everything is ok with their network.
You can find "file shredders" on the net, free. These basically just delete a file or folder, then overwrite that location with junk data and delete it again, which then just says that junk data is recoverable, versus what was there before.
However, in terms of malware, I don't think deleted files are really your issue most of the time. If I were you, I'd use a program like Malwarebytes to do a full system scan and see what it comes up with. If it finds anything, go ahead and delete all of that, then use Ccleaner to do a registry scan, which will often find keys that are no longer associated with whatever you removed, and clean that out.
Also, make sure to use MsConfig to check and see if any malware is set to start up with Windows.
Sometimes you'll see malware that installs a software in startup that simply goes out to the internet at a specified location, downloads the malware right back to the computer. No matter how many times you kill the malware and restart, it gets right back on. So definitely look at what's starting up.
Also take a look at any services you don't recognize by using Services.msc (this and msconfig can be run from the search bar in Start)
Go through your services and your startup and if you don't recognize something, pop open a Google and search the service/program name. See what it tells you.
When that's all said and done, consider using a firewall and a free AV program that does real-time scanning, like Avast. I'd get rid of MSE altogether. With Avast, it will let you know something is up before malware ever fully gets on your computer in the first place.
Yes, I know, but for such shredders I first have to know what to shred. I don't. Thus I would like to shred everything on my disk except for the files still indexed and thus not marked for overwriting.
I have installed the trial version of Bitdefender, but it did not find anything, either. It is supposed to be the best security suite. It also has a firewall, lots of processes, but I have no clue which ones are ok and which ones might not be.
Same goes for the startup services, many of them have odd names that don't mean anything to me.
If you think that the government is spying on you, and they're doing it via mechanisms in the operating system, then I have to ask -
Why are you using that operating system?!?!?!!??
Switch to one of the desktop oriented linux distros. Keep your Windoze install (either as a dual boot, or on a separate hard drive/pc) for the tasks you MUST use it for, but use linux for your every day stuff.
If you're that paranoid, take a hammer to your hard drive, barbeque the pieces on the grill, and then run over the charred remains with your car. Then buy a new hard drive and reload with a fresh OS and your favorite file shredder program.
If you think that the government is spying on you, and they're doing it via mechanisms in the operating system, then I have to ask -
Why are you using that operating system?!?!?!!??
Switch to one of the desktop oriented linux distros. Keep your Windoze install (either as a dual boot, or on a separate hard drive/pc) for the tasks you MUST use it for, but use linux for your every day stuff.
Because I don't know enough about Linux Nor is Linux safe.
I am not saying someone is spying on me, but I can't rule it out, either. I write a lot against the NSA etc., who knows. Those fascists can lurk anywhere, including this board and the Guardian board. I don't really have anything to hide, everything I do is legal. Still, I don't want those fascist pigs on my computer. Really important stuff is not on this online PC anyway.
I guess I will completely wipe my drive and reinstall Windows after all...
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Unfortunately, normal security suites can't find government malware, MS Security Essentials is probably ignoring it deliberately as we all know by now MS is in bed with the NSA.
