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One can stop a lot of that in windows if one has the time to tinker with it, but with linux distros who knows? Might be possible to learn how, but what a pain.

From the legal stuff that came with 14.04.2: "When you enter a search term into the dash Ubuntu will search your Ubuntu computer and will record the search terms locally. . . . Unless you have opted out . . . we will also send your keystrokes as a search term to productsearch.ubuntu.com and selected third parties . . . including: Facebook, Twitter, BBC and Amazon. . . . By searching in the dash you consent to: the collection and use of your search terms and IP address in this way; and the storage of your search terms and IP address by Canonical and such selected third parties (if applicable) . . . Online Search You may restrict your dash so that we don’t send searches to third parties and you don't receive online search results. To do this go to the Privacy panel and toggle the ‘Include online search results’ option to off. . . . " - - - - - But it doesn't say that Ubuntu doesn't keep the data anyway. Good grief, there must be a lot of money in the data collection business.

Wow. Great list. Thanks.

Congratulations on your degree and the new computer.

Thanks for the heads up, trium & hazelnut. I moved that one to the "hidden updates" section.

No, google won't install from an update after you once refuse it. You won't see the Google offer again for a while, somewhere I read a year, but maybe longer. But it's always a good idea to go slowly through any installer. Some have very clever ways to install things you don't want.

Chromixium takes the flat icon trend to the extreme.

"To feed your iso addiction here is something for another usb I'm sure you'll have lying around.." Oh dear. There goes the rest of the afternoon. Looks very interesting. Thanks Hazelnut.

Very nice little distro. Running it right now from a 2 gb USB stick. Fast & light, runs in RAM and doesn't need much of that. Fairly full featured, but doesn't have everything a windows user is accustomed to. The browser is Firefox 37.0.2, there are others available. FF automatically updates when you first install it . . . not too happy about that, but it started before could shut it off. Edit: Should mention that I used YUMI to install it to the USB stick. YUMI will create a multiboot USB stick, might have several distros on it. OK, maybe everybody knew that, but I have tried it, it works, and if I can do it anybody can. @Hazelnut: It is still possible to prevent automatic saves.

This one is in from Puppy Linux 5.2.8.05

Same as trium & Kroozer. using win xp & Firefox Portable 36.0.4.

Welcome to the forum, WXB. +1 for me too. In the lower left corner of the CCleaner GUI it says "Online Help". That link goes to a page divided into 2 main panels with 4 subpanels each. It would be easier to navigate, imho, if the link called "Product Setup" was moved to the first entry (upper left panel) and renamed to "Detailed "How To" Documentation". Then maybe below that the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) link, followed by the others.

Just a thought. There are about 1.4 billion people in China. If 28 percent still use win xp, and 1 percent of those spend $5 with apple, thats a substantial revenue. Wonder if they will give that up? Tried to figure it, so I could cite some impressive number, but got lost in the zeroes, so will just say "substantial revenue". I'm assuming that the reports of pirated software are correct, but still it seems reasonable to think 1 percent will spend something with apple, eh? Edit: Still using xp here also, will do so until the final lap. All kidding aside, it just does everything I need, quicker that win 7 and more comprehensible that win 8. It doesn't have those tracking bugs that we read about which can't be removed, and, popular opinion notwithstanding, has less vulnerabilities that 7 or 8. If properly managed, of course. 'nuther edit: When at last it is necessary to leave xp, I'll probably go to Linux. Also just tired of windows.

Much the same stats from here. 6 to 8 percent for Europe & USA, ~ 3 percent for UK, ~28 percent for China, so China drives up the worldwide average to ~10 percent. http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-eu-monthly-201403-201504

Will TOR browser show it?

Only one for win xp this time. 1 year plus since the end of support. The sky has not fallen.

Wow, LuLu, thats good news. Glad to hear it. These days it seems a good idea to get the exended warranty.

Cheap, quick, & easy thing to try (might not work, but worth 5 minutes ). Turn it off, take out the battery, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Then open & close the lid a few times. Then put it all back, turn it on, & check.

You're very welcome. Do post back and say how it goes, if you have time. It's always frustrating to not know if something worked, there are soooo many variables. I have done one acer restore, the MBR was messed up and all the time went to getting that right. Once the Acer restore function started working it was a breeze.

For some of your questions: "Would you recommend that I carry out the disk wipe first then the factory reset or vice versa." The easiest way will put your old files beyond the reach of anybody except some government agency: - First back up the data you want to keep. - Next do the factory reset. - Next install an antivirus and firewall if you want them. - Next reinstall Windows updates, (so you must get on the 'net). - Next wipe with CCleaner. - Next, if you wish, use Recuva to see if anything is leftover. - Next, if you wish, verify that with other free recovery tools. After the factory reset, some links to your old files might still be "floating around" on the HDD. The wipe with CCleaner will take care of that if you have the right boxes checked. "I am concerned that if I fully wipe the hard drive I may struggle to restore it . . ." If you mean fully wipe like with DBAN, you will have to format the drive and do a complete reinstall of windows and (I think) the drivers for your computer. DBAN is effective but extreme. If that is your choice, a new hard drive would actually be easier. As in post #3 above. Basically the Acer reset reformats the drive and reinstalls the factory original software for you. The Acer restore partition will still be there to use again if need be. CCleaners wiping functions will not remove the Acer Restore partition nor any software unless you select it. ". . . is the free hard drive space the only place that my data can be restored from?" Internet activity and most any computer activity leaves tracks all over the place; on the individual computer, on the ISP servers, on the sites visited, etc, etc. But, as to just cleaning up your own computer, it is much easier.

Mta started a topic about these, here: http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=37002&hl=rasberry Thought I might follow up a bit. I got one the other day, it's a nifty little device. Mine has 512 mb RAM and their first processor. It is not the newest one available. The newest, called the version 2 (I think), has 1 gb RAM and a faster processor. Still, this older version is about as fast as some of my old desktops were. No kidding. The newest is supposed to be about 7 times faster. May have to upgrade. All you have to do is plug in a USB keyboard & mouse, an HDMI cable, the card with the operating system, an ethernet cable, and the power. And Wallah, you're surfing the net. If I can do it anybody can. I just plug mine into a small television I use instead of a monitor. If you buy an OS card, It would be a good idea to make a copy before you use it to install the OS. The card it comes with several operating systems on it, but when you start the installation process the card gets formatted and there remains only one OS. Copying the card would be quicker than downloading an alternative OS later, at least here it would because of slow connection speeds. It will connect to the 'net, has sound. Uses the Midori browser but has others available, haven't tried them yet. Had a little trouble with the net, couldn't make it connect, but the second time I started it up, it connected with no problem. Have no Idea why that was, not tekkie enough to figure it out. But it works now. All in all it is pretty neat. Fun. A super way to get kids into computers. Pretty tough built little thing, the kids can see all the gizmos on the board, little lights flash, there are several programming activities available, is easy to restore the OS, just reinstall it to the card and plug it back in. Plus its little and cute, not intimidating like a big expensive computer where dad hovers over you and says "Nooo, don't click that . . . " One problem occurs when you go to sites where they sell them. There are tons of extra hardware devices available. A camera, a miniature keyboard, a miniature screen, builder kits, wiring kits, robot maker kits . . . good grief its like a Barbie Doll for computer tinkerers. The doll costs very little, but the accessories will bankrupt you.

"Would you recommend that I carry out the disk wipe first then the factory reset or vice versa." Not very sure about this, would be interested to hear what other members think. But, I think you do the reset first, then use CCleaner to wipe the free space. Out of curiosity, is the Acer factory reset method available for you? Edit: mta posted while I was typing so I didn't see it. . . . For my part, I could plan it for a year and would still forget something.

Agree w/ mta: 1. If the data are really sensitive, destroy the drive. 2. If not, reset the laptop to factory and wipe it like you described. That will wipe the data beyond the reach of almost everybody. For that second option, you can try to reset the laptop to factory original settings, using the built in restore partition. That would be easiest. That usually starts with pressing f10 at startup, but it often is not straightorward. Toms Guide has many references to how to do it. Go see: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/s/restore+acer+aspire+5517+factory+settings/ or more generally http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/all.html?tag=aspire&refine=restore see also here http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2219400 If you have to reinstall windows you can download the necessary iso file from here. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery You'll need the product key, usually on the bottom of the laptop, and be sure you download the correct version of win 7. If you need the drivers for your laptop, they can be found here by entering the model number: http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers

This one comes with Zorin ver 9, a pretty nifty linux distro. Running Zorin now from a USB stick on my brave old XP box.

Happily there are no rhinoceroses around close so no way to test that theory. >whew<