Erasing the system Restore files??

[phibins]

I believe they are called the system recovery files, or the back up files. :?:

What is the correct procedure to properly erase ALL previous restore points and backups made by windows.

(i don't want to disable this feature, i want to securely erase all previous restore points and create a single new one... and also disable windows from creating these restore points on its own, if i can)

i run win7 X64 base.

Also, if someone would be so kind to point me to complete instructions on cleaning any past remnants of files that would not be taken care of by Eraser.
I would like to do a complete security "dust and polish" of my computer. :wink:

I apologize if this is in the incorrect forum.

 

[DavidHB]

Taking the Eraser point first, your best bet is probably to delete as much as you want to get rid of, erase the contents of the Recycle Bin, and then erase the free space on your drive. I suggest that you read the FAQ post on Getting to Know Eraser 6 to help you through this; this explains such things as running Eraser as Administrator and interpreting the error messages that Eraser often generates.

As part of the first stage of this process, deleting unwanted Restore Points is an excellent idea. You may also wish to consider disabling shadow copies (an optional part of the System Restore process), as that is where copies of deleted user files can lurk. Windows provides a facility for deleting Restore Points, but a better option in my view is to do a search for the free utility CCleaner from Piriform, and download and install it. Not only will it find and clean files you never even knew existed, but it also has a simple tool to delete any or all Restore Points except the most recent one. Some of the features of CCleaner overlap those of Eraser, but mostly the two programs usefully complement each other.

I don't know any means of preventing installers and Windows Update from setting Restore Points (other than disabling System Restore completely), but it is probably a good thing that the Restore Points are created. The CCleaner tool makes removing them so simple that their creation is not really a big issue.

David

 

[Joel]

I may be wrong -- if so please correct me -- after deleting the restore points with CCleaner, one still needs to do a free space erase as I don't remember CCleaner securely erasing the restore points.