groovyPost

Recently I sold one of my computer to a guy on Craigslist.  Before I handed it over to him however, I decided I wanted to “Wipe my tracks” so to speak of all personal information.  Now granted, there are many ways to clear your browsing history using your web browser’s built-in interface but what about other files on your Hard Drive?  Plus, did you realize that when you delete a file or clear your cache using FireFox or IE, your not actually deleting anything from your Hard Drive?  What it happens is your system simply removes it from view, and marks it as reusable space.  So until the space is re-used, it can be recovered using a simple Disk Recovery forensics application.

So, today I’m going to talk about How-To securely wipe or delete files & browser history / cache on your Hard Drive permanently.

CCleaner is free/freeware application that can delete / wipe files from your Hard Drive including browser history and cache as reviewed in 2 previous articles:

• Clear Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) Browser History & Temp Files 
• Clear Firefox 3 Browsing History, Cache and Private Data

First, Let’s get CCleaner Installed

1.   Download and Install CCleaner from http://www.ccleaner.com/

2.   Run the Install Wizard for CCleaner, by Double-Clicking on the file you just downloaded.  The install is pretty self-explanatory.
Optional: I recommend you un-check installing the Yahoo! toolbar option during install.  This is probably why the software is free

3.   Open CCleaner, Click Options, Settings, Secure File-Deletion and Select DOD 5220.22-M (3 passes)

Note -  Sophisticated forensic applications can recover “Fragments” of data left on your hard drive even after you delete / wipe them.  To minimize the amount of “Fragments” left behind, CCleaner allows you to wipe / overwrite the files your deleting multiple times to ensure the data cannot be retrieved.  Simple Overwrite (1-3 passes) is typically secure enough for most people, however if you’re super paranoid you can choose the NSA or Military-Grade Gutmann 35 pass deletion.

4.   Click on the Cleaner tab, and then Click Run Cleaner.

Note - You can customize what files you would like to delete, and there is even options for erasing different Application history on your computer.

That’s it!  Your computer is now Clean and very Groovy!

Note for Advanced Users

CCleaner also offers a reliable Registry & Startup Cleaner.  Before using these options however, you should fully understand what your doing and configure the application to backup your files.  You can find these options in the Advanced Options menus.

Tags: security, wipe, ccleaner, privacy, windows, how-to