Hard Drive Encryption and Cache, and History
Well, being a computer nerdess, (wink) I can tell you that that CC cleaner is not as effective as some of you need for your clearances, your SO's and your privacy. Here are my suggestions first in brief, then below a follow up from sources relating to my opinion. (yawn, not about huntsville providers I know, but it is data provided by a provider.) Hope this helps someone. Lee Read on.
First ENCRYPT your data: 1) " SL Certificates & PGP (pretty good privacy)" See below.
That way traces that stubbornly do remain are encrypted and. Only you have the key.
2) Is a history erase program, there are a lot on the market, but you need to test them out to see which works best for you. Pareto has one, but it seems only to work for the user that is logged in, I can see my kids history going back to 2006 still despite manually clearing cache from my log in. So, check all personalities.
3) Finally, once something is on your hard drive, it really is there for anyone to uncover if they are good at data recovery (which I am). So, in order to remove the deleted files that no longer just show up on a search, but are still on the Hard drive you should use a program such as killdisk.
It is a hassle, yes but it is worth it if you do not want to lose a spouse over some surfing indescretions.
1) PGP Encryption, PGP File Encryption
What Is It?
PGP stands for "Pretty Good Privacy" and is an encryption standard created by Phil Zimmerman and first released in 1991. The protocol is used by Web browsers and email programs to encrypt data before transmission over networks. The recipient uses a private key to decrypt the data and to verify the digital signature of the sender. PGP can also be used to encrypt stored data. Originally offered as a freeware program, PGP has evolved into both commercial and open source versions. An alternative encryption technology is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a protocol developed for TCP/IP transmissions. Each SSL Certificate is created for a particular Web server in a specific domain for a verified business entity. Like a passport or a driver’s license, an SSL Certificate is issued by a trusted authority. Digital IDs based on SSL can be installed within email programs and Web servers to encrypt email communications between individuals.
More on Privacy Control
2) How do you know if your deleted files are truly eliminated from your computer?
Unless you use a Privacy Control application to eradicate all your surfing history, unwanted files, images, cookies and message histories, you can be assured that those which you have deleted are still residing in your PC. Personal and confidential information left on your computer can compromise your security and your privacy. Any interested third party who has access to your computer can view any file it contains. Credit card numbers, banking information, history of Internet use, and personal documents could all be vulnerable – even if the offending files have been deleted.
Privacy Controls software is an important tool in your PC security tool kit. Simple deletion of surfing history, files, images, and message history only removes the files from your view, leaving the files themselves on your computer for access by anyone who has access to your computer. A good Privacy Control application thoroughly scans your computer for deleted files and then offers you the opportunity to completely eliminate them from your system. We strongly advise you to choose an application that is fluent in as many of the latest applications as possible and that offers you multiple elimination options. If you have any worries whatsoever about files containing your credit card or banking information, make sure to choose a Privacy Control software program that "shreds" your information to government or military standards for the most thorough elimination
3) If you want to erase the information on the drives, formatting will not do it. Try Killdisk, a free version download killdisk. C
If you can download and burn your own copy, Killdisk will write over all previous data on the disks. If you have sensitive information on the disks, run it several times.
[QUOTE=Bammadog]Go to C Net.com and download a free program called CCleaner. This is a cache cleaner and will completely clean your computer's cache. Download and try. The first time I did, it removed almost 1 gig of garbage in the memory, including cookies from all the sites I had been and the movie clips I had watched, all that stuff that no one else in the house needs to see. At the very least, get the firefox browser. You can set it to delete all history when you close it and CTRL + SHIFT+DEL will also delete the history and the browser will remain open.[/QUOTE][size=-2][b][u]EDITOR'S SUGGESTION[/u]:[/b] [blue]This is interesting, but you might consider re-posting it under the [u]Internet Security[/u] topic in the Site Administration section of the Forum where it will benefit the Forum Members who are specifically looking for this type of information. [i]Thanks![/i][/blue][/size]