How to Remove Traces of your Activity on a Computer

There are a lot of people out there who wouldn't want others to find out about their activities on their computers. A significant portion these people want to hide their porn-viewing activities, but there are other reasons as well. For instance, I'm not too fond of someone knowing that I've been checking out Superherohype.com on my work computer. Here's a few tips on how to hide your activities...

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Careful eye

1. The first thing you should do is to delete your web browser history. In Internet Explorer, you can do this by going to "Tools" menu and selecting "Delete Browsing History..." Then press the "Delete All" button at the bottom of the popup window. This will help to prevent the casual user from being able to view your previous pages.

2. To delete evidence of files you may have viewed or programs you may have run, go to the following directory and delete all files contained therein: C:\Documents and Settings\John.Smith\Recent. "John.Smith" is the computer owner's name used during Windows installation.

3. Although it may seem obvious, make sure the Recycle Bin (Trash can) is empty. It's so easy to forget to do this. You can simply right-click on the Recycle Bin and select "Empty Recycle Bin."

4. Finally, consider getting a registry cleaner that can help delete certain entries in your Windows registry. Some programs leave keys and codes in the registry that make them readily identifiable.

[Elander]

on 12/24/2008 I wish some of my customers did this before bringing their computers in. Would have saved my techs some trauma.

[Gardengates]

on 12/14/2008 Good, practical ideas for cleaning up that computer for privacy. Thanks.