Travel Technology - Recommended software for permanently deleting messages from hard drive and server?

I'm getting rid of one computer, but would like to purge the hard drive first or my old emails and sensitive data. I've seen some "shredder" software. Would that be the recommended plan of action?

Also, I would also like something on my new computer that would make sure hard deleted emails are overwritten with all zeros or something so they can not be recovered. Any advice?

I use Outlook with my hotmail and comcast accounts in that. Gmail I have separately, but I understand those are much harder to recover.

Any advice on doing these easily would be greatly appreciated.

The free sDelete program (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx) will handle secure deletions for you. Deleting Outlook and/or individual emails requires an understanding of how those emails are stored. For a good discussion of this subject and deleting Outlook emails, see this article (http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_shred_individual_emails_in_microsoft_outl ook.html).

My office uses Darik's Boot And Nuke (http://www.dban.org/). You create a bootable CD or floppy disk which will overwrite the hard disk a minimum of 3 times, wiping it completely.

To peridically clean hard drive slack space(where your 'deleted' files are still stored), I use the windows cipher command (http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/how-to-make-sure-your-deleted-files-are-completely-erased/): cipher /w:C:\

I'm not sure how it works with the Outlook .pst file though. ie., if a deleted email is within the .pst or purged somehow. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can add more.

I'm getting rid of one computer, but would like to purge the hard drive first or my old emails and sensitive data. I've seen some "shredder" software. Would that be the recommended plan of action?

Also, I would also like something on my new computer that would make sure hard deleted emails are overwritten with all zeros or something so they can not be recovered. Any advice?

I use Outlook with my hotmail and comcast accounts in that. Gmail I have separately, but I understand those are much harder to recover.

Any advice on doing these easily would be greatly appreciated.

Assuming you've deleted the emails and sensitive data yourself, there's two programs I've used after that step:

ccleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com) and eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/node/6)

After deleting emails and data you don't want on the computer, run ccleaner to clean caches, histories, etc. After that, use eraser to wipe your free space, etc.

-David

Given that hard drives are inexpensive, you could simply remove the existing drive, replace it with a new drive, and then properly destroy the existing drive (the one with your messages and data). This is what I do when getting rid of old computers at the office. This assumes you have the original OS CD and others that came with the computer.

If you need to comply with privacy laws (HIPAA, etc.), there are companies that will shred a hard drive for you. If not, beating it with a large hammer until the insides are dust can be a good stress reliever. :)

Thanks for the suggestions.

I also had a recommendation for Secure Clean. Anyone try that one?

Of course, I do like the simplicity of rts123's suggestion. :)

right .. it's a computer you are getting rid of. That's easier. You delete your user account and check the option to delete all the data files. Then use ccleaner and eraser. You can temporarily create a new account to do this.

A clean re-install would be better.

-David

You can't delete them off the server unless you have control of the server. Granted, there's probably no chance the provider would ever look at your mails, but that's another issue.

If you have the restore CD that came with your pc/laptop you could just run that. It does a full repartition of the drive and puts it back to the condition it was when it was new. You can wipe it first with one of the programs above to clean it all off then just restore it to day one if it makes you feel better.

To completely erase the old computer's hard drive, I second the suggestion for DBAN (Darik's Boot And Nuke) (http://www.dban.org/).

On an ongoing basis for files, I recommend Eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/node/6).

As for the server, that depends entirely upon your provider's security policies. Certainly, deleting your messages via pop/imap and emptying the proverbial trash should help.

... Deleting Outlook and/or individual emails requires an understanding of how those emails are stored. For a good discussion of this subject and deleting Outlook emails, see this article (http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_shred_individual_emails_in_microsoft_outl ook.html).

Right now I retire an old PC. Thanks to all posters for their valuable advise.
Regarding Outlook I used the "search" from Microsoft to search for "*.pst" and then used "Eraser" which was mentioned by some posters....I just hope that was the right way to do...I have had some difficulties in the past with that "pst files".

Thanks again!