deleting data win2k

[newtonus]

hi all

can anyone advise?

i use win2k and I am giving my pc to a relative and i want to make sure that what i would call sensitive data, that is letters and e-mails i have had on the computer and sites i have visited on the internet, are deleted before the machine is replaced.

What would i have to do to delete such information? I dont want to wipe the pc and re-install

many thanks in advance

N.

[valter]

Delete your profile C:\Documents and Settings\%username% there should be your profile, and if you haven't had My Documents moved from there, all your letters and God knows what else will be gone for good.

[os2fan2]

Should need to prowl through registry too.

[uid0]

will be gone for good.

Gone for good only if the recipent doesn't use undelete / file recovery programs

But hopefully you can trust your relative

Could look for a wiping utility just in case

[newtonus]

Delete your profile C:\Documents and Settings\%username% there should be your profile, and if you haven't had My Documents moved from there, all your letters and God knows what else will be gone for good.

sounds good but how do I do it?

ta in advance

[allen2]

Create another local admin account, reboot loggin with the new account then delete.

[pmshah]

What I usually do is first delete all the sensitive files. Then run a freeware utility named cleandisk. Then I defrag the system & run the cleandisk again. This ensures that nothing can be undeleted & generally no remnants remauin either.

[nitroshift]

The most radical solution is format and reinstall. A bit more time and work, but everything will be gone bye-bye...

[At0mic]

If you insist on not formating and reinstalling (which I recommend):

1. Create a new Administrator account and log in as that name. Next, delete everything in C:\Documents and Settings\ except for the account you just logged in as, All Users, Default User.

2. Have a look in the root of C: to make sure nothings been saved in there. Have a look in any folders that have been created as well. Have a look in any other partitions you have as well.

3. Have a look in C:\WINNT for TMP files. If word or excel etc crashes, the file you were working on gets dumped there with the TMP extention.

4. What software package do you do your work in? If you use Office, click Start | Search | For Files or Folders... and search for *.doc, *.pub, *.xls, *.pst etc. Or if you use Open Office, search for those files with those extentions like *.odt for a writer file etc.

5. Before you give your computer away, make sure you dont leave a CD or a floppy disk in the computer containing your data. Also, open up your computer to make sure no disks or peices of paper are inside. I've found floppy disks lying inside a computer before.

Its impossible to be 100% sure of deleting everything. You might have saved sensitive data in a text documents in C:\WINNT or somebody may have opened up an INI file and saved some sensitive infomation (unlikely, but possible) and you cant delete all INI files.

If you do steps 1 to 5, theres a chance you would have deleted everything.

To be 100% sure however, you need to format.

Edited September 19, 2006 by At0mic

[muchlux]

Google for a tool called ERASER. Its one of the best and it's free. It overwrites the "empty" area of the harddisk with some patterns. Formatting or deleting does usually not physically destroy data.