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I don't know much about the technical aspects of computers, and I might have a virus or something. Anyway, an IT acquaintance of mine agreed to check it out for me this weekend for free. I had some embarrassing stuff, both on the internet and on the desktop, that I deleted or cleared before. I also cleared the recycling bin. But I know it's not completely cleared off the hard drive or something? The stuff is nothing illegal, but I would still be mortified if this acquaintance could see some of this while going through my hard drive. Is there a way to completely clear all that history of my computer for good?
I would appreciate any help. If it was any other IT person that I was paying I wouldn't care, but being as I know this guy and I will see him again, I really don't wanna embarrass myself.
For the types of files you're worried about*, once you've moved them to the trash and then emptied the recycle bin, they can't be recovered without a special undelete utility. Your acquaintance will not be using such a utility to fix your computer's problem, so you're probably safe there.
What you do need to do though is make sure you've deleted your browsing history, cookies, and browser cache, for all of the web browsers you use. You might also want to delete form auto-complete data.
In Internet Exploer, select Tools->Delete Browsing History..., and select everything under the separation line (don't preserve anything), and click "Delete".
In Firefox, select Tools->Clear Recent History..., select everything for the Time range "Everything" and click "Clear Now".
If you've bookmarked any embarassing web sites, you should remove those bookmarks.
*The system restore feature can recover certain types of file residing in certain system directories, but the files of yours that are potentially embarrassing wouldn't be files that system restore protects.
Download and use CCleaner: CCleaner - Home. It will not only clear your history and recycle bin but will also delete temp files that are used by flash videos.
Download and use CCleaner: CCleaner - Home. It will not only clear your history and recycle bin but will also delete temp files that are used by flash videos.
Does this wipe off or damage anything else on my computer?
Does this wipe off or damage anything else on my computer?
No, its a pretty basic cleaner program used by many, not much unlike Window Washer and similar programs. It clears browser cache, temp files, recent documents, memory dumps, clip board, as well as windows and application tracks.
In my opinion it is a pretty compact, lightweight and safe program to use for people who don't wish to manually clean all these locations.
Remember that IE keeps a log file that is not deleted by its built-in "clear history" functions. CCleaner will delete that log file. But remember too that a deleted file is not really gone. Windows just puts up a sign where it is that says "This space for rent" so it can write another file there.
Click on Options and then Settings. On the right click on the radio button for Secure file deletion and from the drop down list choose Gutman (35 passes).
Now click on the Cleaner icon to the left and scroll all the way to the bottom of the list. Place a check mark in Wipe free space.
Run Ccleaner and expect to wait a long time for it to finish. Your friend won't see anything.
Last edited by Tek_Freek; 01-15-2010 at 12:18 PM..
Reason: Added first line, fixed spelling
Download and use CCleaner: CCleaner - Home. It will not only clear your history and recycle bin but will also delete temp files that are used by flash videos.
Another good idea is to go the the flash player settings manager to delete sites visited that used flash player. This web page will bring up the settings manager for your computer on the web page.
I have a Windows Vista disc cleaner in my computer. Would CCcleaner be incompatible with this, and will I have to add it to the list of programs, so Windows Defender allow it in? Thank you,
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Incompatibility?
