# Off-Topic Discussion > The Lounge > Tech Talk >  >  Wipe a computer clean of my internet activity?

## dragonoverlord

Im getting rid of a computer and i need to clean it of my internet activity. Obviusly i deleted the browsing history but what else? 

Like when i go to the URL and i type...www.D and then a drop down menu comes up and it gives the names of all the sites i have been to that start with the letter D like Dreamviews. How can i stop it from doing that? And when i go to youtube and i type in something like the number 2 a drop down menu comes up with lets say 2 girls 1 cup. How do i stop the computer from doing this?

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## Pyrofan1

format the harddrive, repeatedly.

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## dragonoverlord

How am i supposed to do that???? Im computer illeterate.

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## Identity X

> How am i supposed to do that???? Im computer illeterate.



Pyrofan1 is lying. Formating repeatedly wont help; it only wipes the file allocation table (telling the OS where the files are) and boot sector (telling your computer how and what to load at startup). The files - and all your data - remains on your hard drive and are easily found by miscreants.

What you need is Darik's Boot And Nuke. Copy to floppy or CD, boot your computer with it in, and select a wipe strength (e.g. "DoD Short" should be ok).

Instead of keeping data on, it wipes it all off, repeatedly, replacing it with with all 0's, all 1's and with random bits, depending on the cycle. And not only that: it does this in a secure and untraceble way. It'll take a day or a day and a half. But that's reassuringly thorough, is it not?

Oh, and make sure you run chkdsk (Run -> "cmd" -> "chkdsk") beforehand to remove "bad sectors", as boot and nuke will fall over if it finds any.

Warning, though: "Nuke" is a suitable term for this program. This will leave your hard drive with nothing on. So you'll have to reinstall the OS if you're planning to sell, or just keep it empty if you're dumping it...

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## Replicon

Um... when someone asks how to basically clear the browser cache and other private info, it's not very nice to instead tell them how to completely nuke their hard drives  :tongue2:

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## Jdeadevil

*If you have Firefox*: _Go to Tools - Clear Private Data_
*If you have Internet Explorer* _Go to Tools - Internet Options - Browsing History -  Delete - Delete All_

Then run Disk Cleanup and put a tick on all the boxes.  :tongue2:

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## ninja9578

> And when i go to youtube and i type in something like the number 2 a drop down menu comes up with lets say 2 girls 1 cup. How do i stop the computer from doing this?



 ::shock::  The Disk Cleanup utility will get rid of that.  Start > Programs > Accessories > Utilities

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## Jdeadevil

In Vista it's Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools.  :smiley:

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## Carôusoul

> *If you have Firefox*: _Go to Tools - Clear Private Data_
> *If you have Internet Explorer* _Go to Tools - Internet Options - Browsing History -  Delete - Delete All_
> 
> Then run Disk Cleanup and put a tick on all the boxes.



This won't permanently delete it from someone who wants to find it.


I would recommend a program called "CCleaner" If you download this and tick all boxes; then put settings to "32 passes" all the stuff will be completely untraceable.



And then delete a file called "system 32"  :smiley:

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## Identity X

> Um... when someone asks how to basically clear the browser cache and other private info, it's not very nice to instead tell them how to completely nuke their hard drives



He's getting rid of it, so it's the safest thing to do.

Some of the other comments are just a bit retarded...

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## ninja9578

He didn't say that he was getting rid of it.

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## Identity X

> He didn't say that he was getting rid of it.







> Im getting rid of a computer...



...?

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## Ynot

if all you want to do is erase your browsing history, do what Jdeadevil said




> *If you have Firefox*: _Go to Tools - Clear Private Data_
> *If you have Internet Explorer* _Go to Tools - Internet Options - Browsing History -  Delete - Delete All_
> 
> Then run Disk Cleanup and put a tick on all the boxes.



this will leave you with a fully operational system
(if you intend to give the machine to someone else)

It will still be possible to retrieve this information
(difficult, but not impossible)
but for all intents and purposes, unless your giving the machine to a Comp.Sci. student, your browsing history is gone

If you want to fully destroy all information on your disk
(leaving you with a non-operational "blank slate")
follow Identity X

This will leave you with absolutely nothing
and you will need to install an operating system in order to use the machine

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## ninja9578

> ...?



Oh, well it was only the first thing that he said, how was I supposed to read that far  :tongue2:   :Oops: 

The best way to remove that stuff from your hard drive if you're getting rid of it is with Microsoft's Hard Drive Deleter:

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## Identity X

> This will leave you with absolutely nothing
> and you will need to install an operating system in order to use the machine







> Im getting rid of a computer...



Am I the only one who read the first sentence? Christ.

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## Ynot

"Im getting rid of a computer"
could mean anything, from "throwing it in the bin, never to be used again", to "giving it to my aunt and buying myself a new one"

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## dragonoverlord

> ""giving it to my aunt and buying myself a new one"



BINGO...sort of. Thanks for the great answers guys!

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## arby

> "giving it to my aunt and buying myself a new one"



I'm sure his "aunt" probably has a *nix live disk lying around. =P

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## Sornaensis

> Oh, well it was only the first thing that he said, how was I supposed to read that far  
> 
> The best way to remove that stuff from your hard drive if you're getting rid of it is with Microsoft's Hard Drive Deleter:



U stole that pic from me!!

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## LDhippie

ok go into open your internet browser

then in the top left or the screen it should say "file edit view favorites tools help" clik on tools.

a menu should drop down, a the bottom of that menu it shood say internet options.

clik on internet options a box should apear dwon the bottom of the box it says history.
click on clear history and it should all be gone

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## ninja9578

If you want to spend a lot of money then you could buy and install Vista.  That should break it beyond repair and no one would be able to read your stuff.

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## cuddleyperson

i doubt your Aunt is going to be techy enough to find your browsing history after you've got rid of it by doing the whole tool, private data thing that's been mentioned.

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## Serkat

When you give away a computer or hard drive, DBAN the hard drive.

Always. No matter who it goes to. You never know where it'll end up.

Oh, and don't use HDDEraser, that fucking piece of shit will put a 30-letter password on your hard drive without telling fuck about it and have you puzzled for minutes, possibly hours until you find the password at the end of the fucking readme.

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## Identity X

> Always. No matter who it goes to. You never know where it'll end up.



Good point. This relative may sell it on to an ID thief unknowingly.

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## Ne-yo

Best advice was given by Jdeadevil and Ynot everything. Short, simple, sweet and easy.

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## Serkat

I reckon that using system tools that come bundled with Windows is the safest way not to achieve what you are planning to do, no matter what it is.

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## Identity X

Nuke it is what I say.

Send it all to hell. And then reinstall.

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