How to Erase Hard Drive History

Hard drive history deletion, also known as hard disk shredding, is the process of removing the recordation of activity on a computer, rather than certain files, components, programs or application aspects of it. Your activity is considered anything you do on the computer itself, which includes online, Internet activity. Activity recordation is stored in an internal folder on your computer that is not accessed on a regular basis. This file location is uncommon and most computer users are not familiar with its contents and location.

Instructions

1. Log into your computer as the administrative user. Restart your system by clicking on the "Start" icon, found on your computer's desktop taskbar. Click on the right arrow located at the bottom of your Start drop box menu. Click "Restart" in the Start menu subtopic drop box. After you are prompted to confirm the restart process, the computer will automatically shutdown and restart. When your welcome screen reappears, you will see your usual User Login options. Click "Administrator," rather than your personal login username, to acquire full access to your computer's settings and configurations.

2. Access your Windows Explorer portal. Click on the "My Computer" icon, located on your computer's desktop screen to view your computer's Internet files, and internal programs, applications and components. When the Windows Explorer screen loads, you will see a left panel and a main window within the portal. Click on the "C:\" icon, which is your hard drive location.

3. Locate and access the "Windows" subfolder in the "C:" folder. You will be prompted to confirm your entrance into this area of the computer. Click "Access" to enter the folder. When the Windows Explorer screen appears, type "Internet" in the search bar, located in the top right corner of the screen. When your search results appear, it will display a list of internal files stored on your computer.

4. Scan through these folders, listed in the search results. Individually remove each file you would like to delete. This process requires alot of time and effort to complete because you must read and examine each folder. Only delete files that bear an Internet explorer thumbnail icon or an icon you are familiar with. Do not delete any other files. Once you have chose the removal action for each file, your administrative security will be prompted to confirm your action. Simply click "Allow" to bypass the confirmation. Exit out of the Windows Explorer portal screen when you have completed the process.

5. Check your computer's "Recycling Bin" and remove any files that transferred to this folder. Click on the "Recycling Bin" icon on your computer's desktop screen. When the "Recycling Bin" screen appears, scan through the folder to ensure nothing you removed transferred to this folder. If nothing transferred to this folder, you have completely removed these files from your computer.

Tips & Warnings

• Go through each file individually before choosing to delete all files at once. This is an excellent safety precaution to avoid permanently erasing files you may need later on. Make sure you are logged into your computer under the "Administrative User". Otherwise, you will not be able to access or edit any file contents in your Windows Explorer.

• Delete only the folder's contents, rather than the entire folder itself. This can cause potential damage to some of your computer's components. Some computers and operating systems may not even allow this action to be taken, but some systems do. So it is important to be aware of the potentially negative affect this action could have on your computer. If you choose to delete the folder, please be aware that the folder will not be placed in your Recycling Bin. Therefore, you will not have the advantage of restoring the file folder if you choose to. This is a permanent action so please make a sound decision when doing so. Do not alter the file folder's location. Only delete the files of your choice. Do not alter anything else regarding the folder. Pay attention to your file extensions. If the file does not have an internet icon, or an icon representing a program you are familiar with, do not erase it. The file could simply be a component that serves as an asset to your computer.