If I move picture folders to the recycle bin, will CC completely remove them. I plan on giving this computer away but want to remove personal information.
Yes CCleaner will clean the recycle bin.
If you want to wipe it evenfurther (so the person who get your PC wont be able to recover the files),
Enable CCleaners "Wipe Free Space" option:
Options / Settings, place a check net to the drives you want to wipe free space on, usually C: should do.
then go back to the 'Cleaner' section and place a check next to "Wipe Free Space" under Advanced.
Note this may take a while so prepare to wait.
CCleaner will delete them in the same way that you would if you just emptied them yourself. Can they be recovered with the right software? possibly yes.
If I was giving away a pc with a lot of my info on it I would use DBan on it and then put a clean install of windows/use recover discs.
This will get rid of everything on the computer 100%.
+1 to the nuke disc
Slighlty off topic but will the CC "wipe free space"option give you back more disk space?( i`m always looking to get rid of unwanted "C"on my hard drive as it ai`nt that large)
No using WFS won't give you more room on your drive.
lol: running the boot nuke disc will
Thanks Fireryone !!
No ooooooo do`nt press the red button Mr president!!
Will "WIPE FREE SPACE" make my computer safe to give away?
It should be, but to be sure you didn't leave a personal file on the PC that wasn't deleted,
It still would be a good idea to boot nuke it and reinstall windows from the cd.
It should be, but to be sure you didn't leave a personal file on the PC that wasn't deleted,It still would be a good idea to boot nuke it and reinstall windows from the cd.
How do I boot nuke it?
Do as rridgely suggested and download dban, (instructions and FAQ here) [note quick start link is down so look through the FAQ and screenshots]
Then you can install some files to a floppy disk or blank CD-R
Basically for CD-R:
One of the files in the download will be "dban-beta.2006042900_i386.iso" you use a cd buring program to "burn an ISO image to disc" and reboot the PC (booting from CDROM) and follow the steps to wipe the drive.