Cleaning out the hard drive?

July 18, 2005 | self / vanity

[The Other Harry]

I went through a period where I downloaded some pornography. None of it was illegeal, but I want it gone. I mean GONE.

From what I have read, you can think you have deleted something, but the remnants of that file are still there.

Advice?

[LongElegantLegs]

Try snapfiles.com and search for freeware called secure delete. Or just take a pack of matches and a can of gasoline to the CPU... ;-)

[Firefigher NC]

Get a nice upgrade for your PC then trash the hard drive. A nice new computer and no remnants of past shame.

[Licensed-To-Carry]

Format C:

[thoughtomator]

Format the hard drive 7 times.

[skimask]

I've got a freeware program called "Er easer" it does the trick, also I think Norton Systemworks has something that erases sectors.

[randog]

Get a new hard drive and load your OS and software on it like you would a brand-new 'puter. Copy any files you want to keep from the old hard drive to the new drive, then take the old drive out and use it as a target at the shooting range.

[Americanchild]

Deleted files are only retrievable until they are over-written by new data. If you are a heavy computer user, chances are these things have been over-written countless times. Or you could always manually delete files from Windows.( They hide in unlikely places!)

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Too late, your wife already knows about this.

[ThePythonicCow]

Good grief -- google it.

The very first hit for a Google.com search for "secure file delete" is a site with an annotated list of such tools: www.thefreecountry.com: Free Secure (Destructive) File and Disk Deletion Tools.

[stainlessbanner]

eraser

[SAJ]

Simplest way to eliminate ANYTHING permanently, no programs or high-tech required, is to 1) delete the files in question, 2) immediately then download some amount of graphics file, pics, MP3, wavs, whatever, 3) delete those, and then 4) defrag your hard drive.

NOTHING coherent will remain from the porn or whichever files, guaranteed.

Now, pls keep in mind that if you've a couple of gigs of porn or more, this may take a bit of time. (WTF is it w/downloading porn? Sheesh.)

[k2blader]

Posting stupid vanities is something of an obsession with you, isn't it?

[this_ol_patriot]

A nice new computer and no remnants of past shame.

I'm sure he burned the images into his monitor, that'll need replaced too.

[GretchenM]

Just stopping by so I could post my tag line on the thread.

[Fierce Allegiance]

Run it through a hammermill shredder. When done, place remnants through hammermill shredder again. Repeat for no less than 7 passes and yor problem should be forever taken care of.

[colorcountry]

I am starting to get a kick out of your inane posts. This one is good.....