Author Topic: I've a computer/Windows XP question?  (Read 2070 times)

onions!

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« on: October 17, 2005, 02:01:43 PM »
Here's the story.

I'm planning to quit my current job within the next month.I want to clean up my tracks at work about a week before I leave.I'm not doing anything "wrong",I just web surf occasionally & exchange e-mails w/friends & family.My boss knows 100% what I do.

My desire is to erase my personal contacts from my Outlook e-mail & my web sites visited history.I do not want to damage my employers system or erase useful sites/info for my replacement.

Will deleting & then emptying the "deleted items" file make my email addresses disappear permenately?Will deleting my web sites from my favorites & then deleteing all cookies do the same for my web history?

I'm actually more "worried" about a current co-worker sticking his damn fool nose into my personal life than I am about my boss doing the same.

Another thing?Can a REALLY BIG magnet really wipe the computers memory?

jw

jefnvk

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2005, 02:24:17 PM »
Do you work at a big company?  If so, chances are that stuff is stored on a server somewhere, where you can do no damage, and he cannot access.  At least the Outlook stuff.

The IE stuff, just choose Tools, and click every button that says Delete or Clear.  Your favorites will remain, unless you choose to clear them as well.
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MaterDei

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2005, 02:46:50 PM »
Your outlook contacts are stored within your .pst and not on the Exchange server, so unless your company backs up its desktops (doubtful but possible) deleting them from your Outlook contacts should do the trick.  You might want to casually ask your IT guy whether any documents stored on your desktop are backed up, and if so for how long.  He'll probably tell you no and that you need to make sure that all your important documents are stored on your personal share on a file server.  That's the answer you want.  But... (always one of those), if you have emailed people from work then the email messages themselves have the email address contained within them (but no other personal info you might have stored like real name, address, phone, etc.).  You could also ask your IT guy whether they archive the data on the Exchange servers.  My company does because we are required to by the FERC, yours may not.  If they do you can ask for how long.  We are required to keep them for a few years but jettison them as soon as we can (again for legal reasons).

If you want to erase your IE history click on tools - Internet options - Clear History.  That should do it.    On this same tab you can delete files and cookies as well.  You can also delete all your bookmarks if you want.

Don't use a magnet on your hard drive.  You'll cause a lot of trouble for your poor, over worked IT support guy.  Just delete all your stuff and move along to your next job.  No sense burning unnecessary bridges.

fwiw, I doubt that anybody at my work would be the least bit interested in who my friends and family are and what Internet sites I've visited.  YMMV.

Cheers.

mtnbkr

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2005, 02:59:27 PM »
Even if you delete that stuff, it still remains on the harddrive.  I don't have time to go into it, but deleting files does not actually delete anything, it simply turns off a flag that says to keep that file.  The file remains until it's overwritten by other data.  Old news and most corps know how to look for it.

Chris

Shalako

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2005, 03:20:26 PM »
Get PrivacyGuardian.

Your browser has a function called Auto Complete. I had mine turned on for years. It stores stuff permanently on your computer in files that you can't find. I had searched my computer for all files called Recent, History, Cookies, Temporary Internet Files, and Temp and deleted all their contents. Then, with auto complete turned on, stuff would still pop into my address bar. Stuff that I hadn't surfed to in a long time. A guy that's now at my previous computer came up to me one day and said, "SO you like Glocks, huh?" And I knew I had done everything to clear my surfing tracks. But not enough.

Now I have Privacy Guardian. The free version still didn't clear the index.dat files but for a mere $29.95 now it clears everything and can bleach my free space too. It even has a shredder.

http://www.pctools.com/privacy-guardian/

Shalako

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« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2005, 03:23:17 PM »
And just for the record, I don't recommend surfing at work. It is just peace of mind to get rid of any awkward tidbits of info.

Brad Johnson

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2005, 08:12:58 AM »
If all else fails have your IT department do a format and reinstall of the op system (or ghost the disk image, if that's how they do it). The only truly reliable way to completely destroy data without physcally destroying the drive is a complete repartition and reformat of the drive.

Brad
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Vodka7

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« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2005, 12:27:06 PM »
Get something like PGP that deletes files by physically writing the data over with 1's and 0's.  Seven is the amount of passes the DoD recommends.  Do a google for file wiping or keywords like that, you might be able to find something that can run from an executable and doesn't need to be installed (I don't know what kind of read/write/execute access you have on your machine.)

Brad Johnson

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2005, 02:12:40 PM »
Hey Shalako, are you who I think you are?

Brad (Foard City Slim)
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It's all about the pancakes, people.
"And he thought cops wouldn't chase... a STOLEN DONUT TRUCK???? That would be like Willie Nelson ignoring a pickup full of weed."
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Paddy

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2005, 02:14:14 PM »
How about defragmenting the drive?  Will that overwrite 'deleted' files?

mtnbkr

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« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2005, 04:46:19 PM »
Quote from: RileyMc
How about defragmenting the drive?  Will that overwrite 'deleted' files?
No.

Actually, nothing short of shredding will truly destroy data before it's overwritten with new data.  Even repartitioned drives can be "recovered" by companies that offer that service.

How do I know?  I've recovered data for my employers and I've sent drives out to data recovery firms.  If you want your data to be safe from snooping employers, keep it off their computers.

Chris

K Frame

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I've a computer/Windows XP question?
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2005, 04:54:27 PM »
When my old hard drive died it took a trip with me to Pennsylvania.

First I introduced it to shotgun sports, then we had a disk drive roast.

Hard drives smell REALLY bad when you burn them...
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

Zundfolge

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« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2005, 05:46:30 PM »
Many companies will wipe your machine when you leave and reinstall everything from scratch. From a security standpoint its a good idea for them to do that because its too easy for a disgruntled employee to put some nastiness on the machine that can go to the rest of the network.

Check with the IT boys and see if they do this.

If you want to permanently delete some files you'll need a file shredder (something like this)