Google Search History Deletion
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Programs: IC Hotels Spire, BA Gold
Posts: 8,654
Google Search History Deletion
Am passing my old lap-top on to a friend and want to clear out as much history etc as possible.
All seems straightforward but how do I clear the search history from Google?. By this I mean when on Google's main site and there is a line to enter search words above the two buttons called "Google Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky".
Currently when I click into this line a drop-down is then shown which lists every search term used since I bought the lap-top over 2 years ago - and I want to delete these.
I'm using IE7 as the web-browser - I guess there is a simple button to press or box to check somewhere.
All seems straightforward but how do I clear the search history from Google?. By this I mean when on Google's main site and there is a line to enter search words above the two buttons called "Google Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky".
Currently when I click into this line a drop-down is then shown which lists every search term used since I bought the lap-top over 2 years ago - and I want to delete these.
I'm using IE7 as the web-browser - I guess there is a simple button to press or box to check somewhere.
#2
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Oslo & Marbella
Programs: SK*G & Centurion
Posts: 864
You should be able to do this be going to Internet Options. In the General tab you should see a button called Delete or something like that (sorry, I'm currently using my Mac ). When you click on the button, there should be a little window popping up where you can specify what you want to delete. Now look for something called "Form Data" - and press Delete.
#3
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: RTP
Programs: AA(EXP), BA, Hilton, Starwood
Posts: 1,250
If you're passing on a laptop that you've used for personal stuff (taxes, etc) then you will simply not get it all clean. Reformat the hard drive during a fresh Windoze install and hand the laptop over.
FYI, I recenly went out and bought XP/Pro/OEM with SP2 installed - it saves me hours of downloading krep MS patches. $78 bucks well spent.
FYI, I recenly went out and bought XP/Pro/OEM with SP2 installed - it saves me hours of downloading krep MS patches. $78 bucks well spent.
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Programs: IC Hotels Spire, BA Gold
Posts: 8,654
You should be able to do this be going to Internet Options. In the General tab you should see a button called Delete or something like that (sorry, I'm currently using my Mac ). When you click on the button, there should be a little window popping up where you can specify what you want to delete. Now look for something called "Form Data" - and press Delete.
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Madrid spain
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton Gold, SPG PLT
Posts: 574
Actually, if you want to clear google search history. Go to Internet Option - Content - Auto Complete - Clear Form.
You can also clear stored passwords by choosing "clear password".
You can also clear stored passwords by choosing "clear password".
#6
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Naples, Florida
Posts: 7,419
However, Robbiedeluxe's recommended procedure works just fine^
BOH:
Are you aware, "deleting" data like explained by Robbiedeluxe, and other "deleted" data can be "recovered" easily by almost any smart PC user.
I erased all data on my old PC with Norton, still was not convinced, that all data were finally destroyed, so I erased all data on the disk with a big hammer.
#7
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: NYC/SYD
Programs: Virtuoso Travel Advisor. FSPP, Ritz STARS, Rosewood Elite, Belmond BelliniClub. SPG PRO
Posts: 2,445
3 holes with a drill before the hammer is my favorite.
There are many documented cases incuding I think a best buy customer who had their hard drive cleaned and it tracked back to them after being resold.
So in this case its a friend you may not stress it. But in general physical destruction is your only safe method.
There are many documented cases incuding I think a best buy customer who had their hard drive cleaned and it tracked back to them after being resold.
So in this case its a friend you may not stress it. But in general physical destruction is your only safe method.
#8
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Upcountry Maui, HI
Posts: 13,299
If you want to really delete all your data, you can download "file shredders" that will help. There's one included in Spybot S&D. They will overwrite the file being deleted with several different patterns making it nearly impossible for anybody to recover the data that was originally there.
If this is XP, why not create a new user for your friend and just delete the user account you used? Then, make sure any applications that stored data files (like quicken, turbotax, etc) in their program directories, remove those data files and account information as well. And also go through the registry and delete any stored history and personal settings.
It's not foolproof, and you can find a shredder that will shred all the free space if you're worried about it (and it's probably a good idea to do that).
A reinstall is the safest thing to do, but you'll still want to shred the free space after the reinstall. (ok, the super safest thing to do is to destroy the disk, but if you're diligent, and find everything, it should be ok.)
Newegg has the Seagate internal 2.5" 80G IDE drive for around $65 if you want to go the other way and reinstall onto a clean disk. Maybe you can get your friend to pay for the new hard drive?
-David
If this is XP, why not create a new user for your friend and just delete the user account you used? Then, make sure any applications that stored data files (like quicken, turbotax, etc) in their program directories, remove those data files and account information as well. And also go through the registry and delete any stored history and personal settings.
It's not foolproof, and you can find a shredder that will shred all the free space if you're worried about it (and it's probably a good idea to do that).
A reinstall is the safest thing to do, but you'll still want to shred the free space after the reinstall. (ok, the super safest thing to do is to destroy the disk, but if you're diligent, and find everything, it should be ok.)
Newegg has the Seagate internal 2.5" 80G IDE drive for around $65 if you want to go the other way and reinstall onto a clean disk. Maybe you can get your friend to pay for the new hard drive?
-David
Last edited by LIH Prem; Feb 10, 2007 at 8:07 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Massachusetts, USA; AA Plat, DL GM and Flying Colonel; Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 24,221
Let's take this a step further: put a new drive in the laptop, put the old drive in an external enclosure, and use it for backup. You'll need some form of backup anyhow. An external drive is one of the better approaches. That way you'll have all your old files, too.
#10
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Upcountry Maui, HI
Posts: 13,299
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817145658
-David