Clearing ALL past search results from a computer

need your help

[silveradoy2k]

Hello, My brother past away a few weeks ago and has given this computer to my children. My problem is I can't give this computer to my kids until I can find a way to remove the past search resaults made by him. There is items like example... nude pics of women. That is only one out of maybe 15 or so past searches he's did. As you can see I don't want to give this computer to our children until I can assure nothing will come up like this.
I would appreciate any help or advise that they can offer me.

Thank you,

Silveradoy2k

[smokeyb]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld silveradoy2k
You can clear the history by the tools/options/clear history in IE, but I'm not sure how to get rid of all the addresses if he was using autocomplete? Someone will clarify no doubt.

[Mardi_Gras]

Silveradoy2k - sorry about your brother. You may also want to be sure that he had not stored any images on the machine that might fall into the same category as the searches he conducted.

Also, when you go to tools/options/, also click on delete files, which will delete any images the browser is caching.

[smokeyb]

Hell, why not use tools/options/settings/view files/select all and delete just to be on the safe side (will delete cookies as well this way).

[Leosghost]

Whilst being good as far as they go these advices ( can I say that? ) will still leave some stuff somewhere ...I dont think that I can post here the exact url you should go to for the prog you need ( not the junk that is advertised all over the net ..this one is free! and works ..which all the commercial stuff doesn't ..I use it for my own customers with your problem although I didn't write it )....Send me a "sticky" and I'll get back to you ...
You probably got yourself a heap of spyware and emailporn lists etc too ..not to mention the active x and dialer installs in foreign languages etc that hangs around where he went ...let me know your OS ...there may be more cleaning than just your .dat "index" etc files to do ..

[smokeyb]

"Spybot search and destroy" is often mentioned here, so I guess the moderators don't mind it being suggested. It's freeware with an option for donation, so have a quick search yourself ("spybot")and you'll find it easy enough.

[steelrane]

There is a program called eraser that with completely remove any file you don't want on your hard drive its used by the dept. of defense to clear uwanted files and it very easy to use [tolvanen.com...] its free also if you don't want to get that far into it you can get a program called window washer thats great too. also in your browser you can clear the history buy going to the browser and on top the section marked tools then to opitions and then to privacy and clear the history sticky mail me if you have any more questions oh and here is where to get window washer [webroot.com...]
Steelrane

[TryAgain]

Come on. If you want to rule out surprises 100% from a computer you don't know anything about only one option: reformat.

[Mardi_Gras]

>reformat.

While I don't disagree with your premise, I would not recommend that someone with the poster's apparent comfort level with computers undertake a reformat.

[TryAgain]

I would not recommend that someone with the poster's apparent comfort level with computers undertake a reformat.

Maybe so, but you never know where "nude pics of women" will turn up. ;)

Must say though that if you intend to let your children surf the internet it makes this concern a bit uhm, what's the word...

[smokeyb]

Maybe so, but you never know where "nude pics of women" will turn up. ;)

That's not really true is it? You can always do a quick *.jpg and *.bmp search on your comp to find them all, and although I personally reformat often I do not recommend it for this guys problem at all, it should remain the last resort.

[Krapulator]

I concur with the reformat option - it's really the only sure way. If you're not sure how to do it - ask the little fat kid in your neighboorhood - he's sure to know how!

[kevinpate]

> You can always do a quick *.jpg and *.bmp search
> on your comp to find them all

Not a safe assumption. There's the possibility that some seemingly innocent sounding file names (word processing or pdf files come to mind) won't contain simple text but will contain instead images inserted into the files.

cleansing a computer is a bit like taking a shower. you can get clean or you can get a little rinsed off ... it depends on the amount of effort you expend.

[TryAgain]

You can always do a quick *.jpg and *.bmp search on your comp to find them all

I guess that is true. :) (though look at previous post)

Ok I'm whining, but what about other stuff?
Like violent/graphic (even sexual) video games? You'd be surprised to know what kind of stuff exists out there.
There's probably adult versions of solitaire even.
God knows what other kind of stuff is installed.
Or take Windows Media Player; I don't have to tell you that's a disaster area right there. (Media Library anyone?)
Filesharing applications. Bookmarks. Ad/spy-ware that redirects to adult content. Screensavers.
Etc.
Just to say there are many ways to get to see adult content on a personal computer.

Btw; this is all for the sake of argument. Don't want to infer anything about the original owner of the computer mentioned in the first message. ;-)

[jomaxx]

Do your brother a favor and just reformat the HD and reinstall Windows. Then you never have to think about it again. It will also do wonders for Windows performance.

[Mardi_Gras]

>Do your brother a favor and just reformat the HD and reinstall Windows.

The original poster didn't know how to clear the history in Explorer. If they are tech-savvy, I might agree with your advice - but if they were tech savvy, they wouldn't be asking for help clearing the history (at least I don't think so) and they could scope out any offending files pretty quickly - at least any his/her children are likely to find.

Reformatting the hard drive - especially if a manufacturer's "restore" disc does not exist - is a major project for someone not experienced at it. Also, it is probably overkill in this situation.

I agree a reformat is the ultimate solution - I just don't believe it is necessarily the best one for the poster.

[jomaxx]

Yeah, I read that the first time you posted it. Anyway my opinion remains that (a) the original poster doesn't necessarily have to be such a novice for asking that question, (b) reinstalling Windows is tedious but not that big a challenge for the average person or their slightly more geekier friend, and (c) nobody should have to deal with searching through a friend's or relative's hard drive for all the embarrassing stuff they may have squirrelled away over the years.