Hello,

I have a PC in full working order, full admin access, OS is XP Home.

There are lots of programmes on the hard drive none of which I have the software for this includes the OS.

Before returning this PC, I have been asked to get rid of some very sensitive material held in files, correspondence and so on, ( not porn ), that, if in the wrong hands, would stir up old wounds.

Of course the simplest way would be to physically destroy the existing HD and replace it, in this instance I can't to this.

I spent last night using the dustbin and Norton deleting files, wiped restore points and so on, however I know these files or a lot of them are still lurking on the HD and could be retrieved.

Question,

WITHOUT wiping the HD or reformatting it is there some freebie software I can download that will go some way in overwriting the files I have deleted thus making it that more difficult to retrieve any files I have deleted?

Please remember I cannot wipe, destroy or reformat the existing HD.

Finally, there is a programme installed on the HD called Bilminder, a simple programme to remind one of upcoming bills to pay, this programme has been password protected, is there a place in XP, ( the registry ), where I might look for passwords, if there is could someone tell me how I get to this, I ask the same question for and E-mail account?

there are programmes around for wiping the hard drive, but it doesn't matter how much you wipe the hard drive, data can be retrieved with the right programme.

the only way to make it totally secure is replace the hard drive.

googling around I've found this http://www.killdisk.com/

I HAVE NEVER USED THIS PROGRAMME SO I DON'T KNOW HOW GOOD/BAD IT IT

Originally Posted by brain_damage

there are programmes around for wiping the hard drive, but it doesn't matter how much you wipe the hard drive, data can be retrieved with the right programme.

the only way to make it totally secure is replace the hard drive.

googling around I've found this http://www.killdisk.com/

I HAVE NEVER USED THIS PROGRAMME SO I DON'T KNOW HOW GOOD/BAD IT IT

Hello Brain Damage,

Thank you for your reply, I had a look but it wipes the whole drive, not quite what I want.

I don't know of any software that'll delete everything so it can not be retrieved.

who is the machine going to?

have you not any restore discs at all?

without reformatting (what you can't do) I can't think of any way to safely delete data you no longer want

Originally Posted by brain_damage

I don't know of any software that'll delete everything so it can not be retrieved.

who is the machine going to?

have you not any restore discs at all?

without reformatting (what you can't do) I can't think of any way to safely delete data you no longer want

Hello Brain,

I have nothing at all, can I not just fill the existing HD with usless data, ( without wiping it), thus possibly overwriting the deleated files and making recovery of these files more diffcult?

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/download.php

Using the shell extension is as easy as using Explorer. When you open the Explorer, you can select the files or folders (or both at once) to be erased or a drive whose unused space you want to overwrite just like you do when normally deleting the data, but instead of selecting Delete from the popup menu that appears when you right click the selection, select “Erase” (or “Erase unused disk space”). If you have selected valid data, a window will appear asking for you confirmation and you are ready to move to the next step. You can also use the Shell Extension from Eraser Explorer.

Originally Posted by jephree

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/download.php

Thanks Jephree,

I'll take a look.

Try this, I have been using it for long and so far so good.
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

Originally Posted by XPcla

Try this, I have been using it for long and so far so good.
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

Thank you XPcla, your right it is good.