How To Hide Record Of Computer Usage

[mossyboots]

Hi Guys:

I have Windows XP and use IE and Mozilla as ISPs. So far as possible I want to delete records of using the computer for porn websites and my own stored porn archive.

I know about cleaning up history of visited websites on IE and Mozilla and also deleting items on the list of recently accessed documents in Windows. I also clear my searches on Yahoo and Google.

Am I missing any other records of computer use which I could erase?

Would be really grateful for expert advice. I'm getting more adept at the computer but am still a long way from being an expert myself.

Thanks
Moss

 

[provenlogic]

Hi Guys:

I have Windows XP and use IE and Mozilla as ISPs. So far as possible I want to delete records of using the computer for porn websites and my own stored porn archive.

I know about cleaning up history of visited websites on IE and Mozilla and also deleting items on the list of recently accessed documents in Windows. I also clear my searches on Yahoo and Google.

Am I missing any other records of computer use which I could erase?

Would be really grateful for expert advice. I'm getting more adept at the computer but am still a long way from being an expert myself.

Thanks
Moss

All depends on how far you are willing to go, and to what degree you want to ensure things have been deleted.

The only 100% complete way to make sure things could never be found is to format your hard drive and re-install windows.

Short of that you need to delete your browser caches, browser histories, cookies, favorite websites (if you bookmark porn pages), recent documents, and temporary folder files. To be safe I’d delete all those manually, and not rely on IE or firefox to do it for you. And of course delete your porn itself, and empty your recycle bin, if you use it.

But one thing you need to remember is that when you delete something, you're not ever actually "deleting" anything. Your computer’s hard drive stores information magnetically on disks. When information is written to the disk, an entry is made into a file index, sort of like a card catalogue in a library. That entry tells the computer where that information is stored on the disk. When you "delete" something you are simply modifying that index entry so that it says the next time you need space to write information on your hard drive, it's ok to write over that data. It also flags that data to be "invisible" to your computer.

But the actual magnetic information is still there, until the next time you write something to your hard drive and it happens to be written on the segment that your other data was on. There are whole hosts of enumeration programs that let you see the actual magnetically stored data on your hard drive, including data you may have "deleted" that hasn't been written over yet. Some of those programs will let you permanently erase that data by writing gibberish data over that segment.

So like I said, it depends on how far you are willing to go, and to what extent you want to "erase" things. Now of course, the average computer user isn't going to know about hard drive enumeration programs that access deleted data. So it all depends on why you're doing this and who you're hiding things from. But again, like i said early on, the only 100% sure fire way? Format your hard drive.

 

[provenlogic]

This not only will scare the hell out of you, it'll tell you where to find everything.I'd advise anyone who really wants to avoid the horrors made evident on this site to switch to Mac, not for any of the usual fanboi reasons but because the operating system is different, and none of this possible. Once you know which files to kill (and this includes Media Player files, RealPlayer files and QuickTime files), they're really dead, and Macs come with a program to wipe erased data from the disk, giving you the choice of doing so with one scan, seven scans or 35 scans.

I have an old Norton data-recovery program that finds all my erased files. After only one wipe scan, however (never mind seven or 35), it can find nothing. Although the Norton application hardly stands at the apex of data-recovery programs, it offers a glimpse into how easily erased files can be recovered.

Mac's suck turkey balls. They're about as useful as a 2" top.

And MS isn't behind some kind of conspiracy to hide and usurp files from you... come on. That's just how windows works. And anyone that's surprised or shocked by the fact there are hidden folders you can't see on your hard drive, even after enabling hidden folders, just doesn't know a thing about computers.



Don't be paranoid....

Oh, and another thing, that article is 5 years out of date... That's like complaining that cars from 1972 don't have airbags.... It's just mute.

 

[Xenos Morphe]

Hi mossyboots, here are some free programs I use:

Registry Cleaner (use download 1 or 2)
http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm

An Eraser (for overwriting the free space)
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

 

[provenlogic]

Thanks, fanboi, for your in-depth response, and expert and devastating ad hominem attack utterly demolishing Unix. Ballmer should have hired you as a spokesman for having the capacity to reveal the truth to the world in only one sentence.What a relief. I feel so much better now knowing what you say is true, not because of the hundreds and thousands of hidden files that can and do exist and that cannot be removed by a typical computer user but because you said so.That's how Windows works! Amazing. Who'd a thunk it? Certainly not the author of the web site, obviously.Hence the web site. Oh! You mean if people don't know it out of the womb like you did, they should never know it. Or, perhaps, why should they know it? They're just stupid users who don't deserve to know it. You, however, are different.So the OP had no business asking how to remove hidden files he knows are there because doing so reveals him as being paranoid. That's why you didn't answer, despite knowing the answers to his question. He doesn't deserve to share your profound knowledge. He's mentally defective.So is XP — and 1972 is 34 years ago, not five. You should install an airbag before your logic explodes in your face.

Have a nice day.

 

[teh_nathan]

Easier solution: Buy your own computer. Make sure nobody uses it but you.
*quickly hides from everyone else*

 

[1st love ron]

I have Window Washer software that completely erases your tracks on the HD. It even can be set to "Department of Defense level" (LOL) cleaning program. I only do a wash every few months. But....*enter paranoia*... Yahoo! (and probably all other search engines) keep a permanent record of all sites you've ever visited; you cannot erase that.

 

[trawler69]

The easiest way might to be to set yourself up as a different user and use password protection, this will keep others from accessing your documents, cookies, favorites, history etc.

 

[mossyboots]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this. Really useful and illuminating.

 

[provenlogic]

no problem