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First time user
- Thread starter Pat
- Start date
Scott K. Smith
New Member
Hi Pat,
Well, since its been 6 days and none of the knowledgeable folks have replied to your post, Ill try to give you a little very basic help.
1. First, it is important to understand what Eraser does and doesnt do. It does NOT seek out files ("tracks") and erase them for you!
You have to tell Eraser what "tracks" you want to make go away. Eraser very simply does an EXCELLENT job of making files (and remnants of files) go away VERY permanently.
2. If you have already installed Eraser, click on "HELP" and read the information there. Lots of VERY good information about why, what and how to erase.
3. Your internet browser stores a lot of information about what you do and where you go on the internet. The Windows operating system does too. Much (but not ALL) of your tracks can be covered up by simply using the options provided by Internet Explorer (for instance). If you are using Internet explorer, you can go to TOOLS > INTERNET OPTIONS and clear the "HISTORY" of websites you have visited. You can also clear much (but not ALL) of the information Windows stores in "TEMPORARY" directories that tell where youve been. Of course the DOCUMENTS menu which is accessed from the START button has TONS of stuff about where youve recently been. You can clear (sort of) the contents of that menu from the Taskbar Properties menu.(You would ideally erase these files directly using Eraser, but an alternative is to delete them using the Windows buttons and THEN use Eraser to erase all free space on your hard drive which will ERASE the DELETED files. Most likely a time consuming task if you have a large drive.)
In short, your question, while sounding fairly straightforward is really quite complex. You can clean your drive of much of the "tracks" youre concerned about by following my suggestions above. (You might also want to do a little research on deleting cookies.) To the casual snoop, there wouldnt be much left to find, but if someone is REALLY determined to snoop on your drive, you will need to do a bit more. Read the newsgroups (but dont believe everything you find!), look into purchasing third party software that is designed to seek out files on your computer that contain private information and securely deletes them. And about the time you think youve got a handle on it all, someone will mention the Windows "swap file" .....ouch!
Good luck,
Scott Smith
Well, since its been 6 days and none of the knowledgeable folks have replied to your post, Ill try to give you a little very basic help.
1. First, it is important to understand what Eraser does and doesnt do. It does NOT seek out files ("tracks") and erase them for you!
You have to tell Eraser what "tracks" you want to make go away. Eraser very simply does an EXCELLENT job of making files (and remnants of files) go away VERY permanently.
2. If you have already installed Eraser, click on "HELP" and read the information there. Lots of VERY good information about why, what and how to erase.
3. Your internet browser stores a lot of information about what you do and where you go on the internet. The Windows operating system does too. Much (but not ALL) of your tracks can be covered up by simply using the options provided by Internet Explorer (for instance). If you are using Internet explorer, you can go to TOOLS > INTERNET OPTIONS and clear the "HISTORY" of websites you have visited. You can also clear much (but not ALL) of the information Windows stores in "TEMPORARY" directories that tell where youve been. Of course the DOCUMENTS menu which is accessed from the START button has TONS of stuff about where youve recently been. You can clear (sort of) the contents of that menu from the Taskbar Properties menu.(You would ideally erase these files directly using Eraser, but an alternative is to delete them using the Windows buttons and THEN use Eraser to erase all free space on your hard drive which will ERASE the DELETED files. Most likely a time consuming task if you have a large drive.)
In short, your question, while sounding fairly straightforward is really quite complex. You can clean your drive of much of the "tracks" youre concerned about by following my suggestions above. (You might also want to do a little research on deleting cookies.) To the casual snoop, there wouldnt be much left to find, but if someone is REALLY determined to snoop on your drive, you will need to do a bit more. Read the newsgroups (but dont believe everything you find!), look into purchasing third party software that is designed to seek out files on your computer that contain private information and securely deletes them. And about the time you think youve got a handle on it all, someone will mention the Windows "swap file" .....ouch!
Good luck,
Scott Smith