cleaning up the hard drive....... techy question

[fat cherry]

so anyway, my pc was getting slow and all that so I decided to try and clear it out (and obviously you shouldn't read too much into that, know what I mean, nudge nudge). Did alot myself and then found a couple of utilities that are supposed to help - ccleaner and another from the same company - more of a data recovery thing but also used to purge old file data - the latter which threw up alot of intersting stuff, i.e., the thing thatI've read but never thought about much, that when you delete stuff, its not really deleted. Now what I was wondering what was the original thinking abou tthis? Is it just to catch old pedos, pervs & fraudsters, thieves, vagabonds and international spies? Or some really important technical reason. Does mac os/linux etc do this. Obviosuly a quiet day at the office here.

Chezzerknee

[the ghost of guitarplayer]

No idea really. Perhaps because computer software has so many different components, including some that are shared, the hard drive is never completely wiped when cleaning it and at least while the computer has something on it, namely the operating system, the hard drive still contains a footprint of all the stuff you have had on there over the years. It's kind of annoying as downloading some of these trial programmes like Adobe Indesign or similar, you can be ensured that bits of it will still be on computer once you have uninstalled it.

My last computer, as I was going to dump it in a skip, I got one of "US Department of Defense-endorsed" wiping programmes that is supposed to remove everything, including the operating system. It seemed to work. It appeared from what I read, other than using that software, that it is actually physically impossible to remove everything from your hard drive other than actually taking it out of the computer and smashing it to pieces.

[fat cherry]

not just programs but files, you know... pictures, ahem. But thats thats what I've read too. Have you ever tried destroying a hard drive? Thats not as easy as it sounds either.I'm not sure a vat of nitric acid would be more effective than a 4lb lump hammer.

[the ghost of guitarplayer]

not just programs but files, you know... pictures, ahem.

Probably nearly every computer on the earth has... pictures, ahem and videos, ahem.

I suppose the alternative would be to remove the "platter" from the hard drive and make a sculpture for your mantel piece, like this.



Personally, I'd make a platter sculpture of a big titted woman getting f**cked as that would be more apt to its original purpose.

[Mr. Brian]

That is much better than the wind chimes I made out of some dead hard drive parts

[Dave Smith]

Quote from my mate "if ever I die...first thing you do is go round my house and smash the f*ck out of my computer before the family see it".

Its the only answer.I deal with a Police forensics chap who says the police wipe hard disks about 7 times and even then they can be recovered.

[moses (2)]

the police wipe hard disks about 7 times and even then they can be recovered.

I have the same issue when I wipe my arse

[moses (2)]

I have the same issue when I wipe my arse

Ok that was uncalled for


Mr. Brian please wipe my account...

[fat cherry]

[quote="Dave Smith"]Quote from my mate "if ever I die...first thing you do is go round my house and smash the f*ck out of my computer before the family see it".
quote]

if you were a true mate you'd let him take the hard drive home. After all, there have to be some perks to your best mate snuffing it.

[Dave Smith]

I get his Talking Heads collection!

[fat cherry]

skip on to about 7:10.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wXwE3S6RKc[/youtube]

[black francis]

I am not ashamed of my hard drive or the porn contained on it.

[Voodoo Billy]

I bet it'd take a nuclear missile to wipe that one clean, eh BF?

[black francis]

That might put a dent in the naughty amateur folder.

[Dr Evil]

Very simple. Take an electric drill to it until there are more holes than drive.