How To Permanently Erase Files From Your Computer
You’ve deleted a file. So that’s it. It’s gone forever, isn’t it?
Err. No. It’s still on your hard drive.
The problem with computers is that they take short cuts. And one of the short cuts is that they don’t actually delete a file when you click delete. Occasionally, this can be useful because it means you can undelete a file that you’ve accidentally deleted.
But what can you do if you want to completely obliterate all traces of a file? Maybe you’re passing your old PC onto someone else and you’d rather the new owner had no chance of finding out all of your passwords and logins. Maybe you had some confidential documents from your company and you need to make sure that they’re not kept on your hard disk any longer than needed. Maybe you’ve deleted some emails that you don’t want anyone to be able to read.
Whatever the reason, simply pressing the delete button just won’t do the job properly.
Unless you are 100% certain that your computer will only ever be used by you and you alone, you need to make sure that the files you want deleted actually get removed totally.
This means that you’re going to need some help from a software program. The only other way is to format your hard disk tens of times and then splinter it into thousands of little pieces, there’s no way you can do this on your own.
Fortunately you can get some cheap software that will give you the same kind of file security the government would expect to use.
It will overwrite the space occupied by the file you want to delete. Not just once or twice (that’s still too easy to recover) but lots and lots of times. When that’s completed, not even the NSA’s high powered computers would be able to read the contents of the file.
Which means if you want to be completely certain that your files are permanently deleted, you need to download this software!
May 26th, 2009 at 11:16 am
hi,
im having trouble with uninstalling a program. I run vista home premium and I have gone into add/remove programs and it does not appear to be there. So, i went into local disk(C:) and tried deleting the files from there. However, some files ask me for permission but i can’t provide permission. There is no space provided to type in any password etc. Would really appreciate it.thx.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
hi
i am having trouble with uninstalling a software on my computer. When i go to control panel i can’t find the software there. So i go to program files and try to delete files from there. However most of the files require permission. As i am the administrator it should let me but it doesnt. It asks me for permission but it doesn’t provide any space to type in the password etc. Much needed help. Thanks.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
The first thing you can run is disk clean up. This often times will clean up many unneeded and left over items.
If that does not work then you need to take owner ship of the file. You can do this while logged in with admin rights and right clicking on the file. From there select properties and browse around with the permissions and ownership. This should give you rights to uninstall the needed file.
As well there is a third party application out there called Perfect Uninstaller that works great at removing all traces of unwanted programs that will not uninstall. Yes the program does cost money but it can really help people out if the item is causing and issue with their operating system.
May 31st, 2009 at 11:47 am
hi
wen i run disk cleanup should i check all boxes?
June 1st, 2009 at 5:15 am
The option to check all boxes it totally up to the user. Each box explains what your are fully removing.
Most users find that checking all the boxes is the best option. However some people like me like to keep system cookies and I do not select this box.