Computer guru needed

[penguindance]

 

[Starblayde]

what system are you using and what do you want to hide?

 

[DarkAngel]

What do i get if i tell you!

 

[Thrillhouse]

What do i get if i tell you!

DOS mode, type format C:

Then get a big ol' electromagnet...

 

[penguindance]

 

[penguindance]

 

[Starblayde]

I don't want to "hide" anything. I want to delete any traces of internet activity for the past year, and get rid of all my files (I can handle that last part) so that it is as if I was never on it...

Operating system....Millenium edition windows.

Start > Settings > control panel > internet options

Clear out the history folder, including cookies. Delete all offline content and empty your temporary internet files.

thats a good start

 

[Starblayde]

i usually need to right click the taskbar, and clear the recent documents too...

 

[modest mouse]

Reformat your hard drive.

Then throw it in a bonfire.

Then drop a thermo-nuclear device on the ashes.

Then squat and take a poopie on it to insure noone tries to piece it together and figure out your ugly past.

 

[LukkyKnight]

Depends how much it has to be like it is now. Formatting the harddisk and re-installing the OS is a very thorough approach, but the removal of cookies and temp files plus the history of the browser URLs is usually "fairly" good.

 

[Weird Harold]

I don't want to "hide" anything. I want to delete any traces of internet activity for the past year, and get rid of all my files (I can handle that last part) so that it is as if I was never on it...

Operating system....Millenium edition windows.

A reformat and re-installation of windows will remove all traces of previous activity if you format with the syntax [/b]Format C: /u to force an unconditional format.

A less drastic solution is to use google to find one of the many "track erasers" that will completelyerase all tracs of internet activity each time you close your browser.

Depending on who you want to hide your tracks from, using Tools/Internet Options -> delete temporary internet files will remove most of your tracks if you also specify "remove all online content"

 

[penguindance]

 

[Darkthought]

Nope, reformating will wipe out everything.

 

[freakygirl]

How much does whoever you want to hide this info from know about computers?

More than likely cleaning cookies, history and etc should be enough.

 

[The Heretic]

1) You must delete all files that show where you have been, and empty the recycle bin. Please read all instructions before attempting this.

a) Delete remove all "favorites" (stored URLs) for all browsers you have used - or at least the favorites that you don't want to leave behind. If you only use IE this is as simple as deleting the Favorites folder (or the files in your favorites folder) on your hard disk. Or you can do it from the browser. Be aware - different browsers have different places to store these URLs, so if you use more than one browser then you have to delete these for each one. You can back up these favorites before deleting them so you can put them on another computer if you wish.

b) If you use IE go to "Tools" and select "Internet Options" If you use Crazy Browser then go to "Options" and select "Internet Options". From this dialog there is a "General" tab. Within that you want to select "Delete cookies" and "Delete files" and "Clear History". From that same tab you may want to see what your home page is set at; set it to "use blank" (which is what I always have mine set to anyway).

c) In that same dialog, if you have a profile, you should go and delete that (this assumes you are not going to be using this computer anymore for your web surfing). This is in the "content" tab. In that same tab you want to select "Auto complete" and tell it to clear all of the options it has "clear" buttons for. You will lose auto-complete passwords if you have that setup - so be sure you want to do this.

d) Then once all that is done you need to select "Settings" in the "General" tab to see if there are any more temporary files left. If there are the resulting window should allow you to delete them.

Other browser have similar settings and operations, but I will assume you use IE. If you have other users setup on your computer, you may need to repeat this for all users for which you wish to delete traces.

e) I am not sure of the exact folders where ME stores everything, but there may be other files out there. Some places to look are folders called "temp" or "temporary internet files" usually in a "windows" folder.

f) Once that is all done, delete any other files you may have purposely downloaded.

g) Delete any email and/or newsgroup articles/files you don't want to leave behind. If you use Outlook then first delete the emails and newsgroup articles within Outlook, then go to "tools", "options", and select the "Maintenance" tab. In that tab there should be a button called "clean up now" - select that. It may take a little while to complete.

Once that is done, if you want to truly delete everything from OUtlook (permanently) - the in that same tab there is a button called "Store folder" - select that button. This will display a folder location. Select the text for the folder location and copy it (Ctrl-C). Now quit Outlook and go to Windows Explorer and in its address bar paste the location (Ctrl-V) and press the enter key. This will take you to where all Outlook message and article files are kept. Delete all of those files in that folder (WARNING - you can't get them back and this will delete everything). Alternatively you can back these files up before deleting them and then re-import them into another computer.

2) You now need to use something that will overwrite the deleted files or they can be easily recovered. I use Active Disk Wiper from www.active-disk-wiper.com . You need to use something like this - ADW is free, but on a large disk it can take quite a while to complete as it goes through and writes over all free space.

 

[penguindance]

 

[DéjàNu]

then just simply download a software and it will do the job:

http://www.networkingfiles.com/Cookie/cookie.htm

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

You know if you stopped downloading the child porn you wouldn't have to worry about this pls. But that's just a suggestion....perv.

 

[Lancecastor]

Thanks guys.

Actually it isn't anything as synister as you might think, lol. My boss is getting us new computers and taking the old ones, I just don't want him to have any surprises when he gets to messing with mine, lol!

I worked at an ISP where a VP got a new laptop one day.

His old one was cleaned up by the IT Dept and passed along to a new Director working for the VP.

The Director ran across file formats he didn't understand, opened them, and found chat room transcripts where the 6'3" VP revealed himself as a rather dirty-minded dainty little crossdresser girly-girl.

The new guy put the files on a floppy and gave it to the company's lawyer, as he was too embarassed , not knowing how to proceed, thinking he should "tell" and wishing to keep it confidential, too.

The lawyer left the disk on the President's desk by mistake.

The President took it by mistake, had copies made by his assistant and took them to a Board Meeting & Press Conference for distribution as our Q3 Results.

The Crossdressing VP was outed in the news and subsequently quietly "retired" from his position to "seek new opportunities".

Our results weren't that good, but we did get lots of press as incompetant perverts.

Clean your computer carefully and well.

Then clean it again.

Cheers

Lance

 

[penguindance]