Cleaning Hard drive

Hey Guys and Gals,

I need some help. I left my computer on while I when to lunch the other day. My office is in the same building as Human Services. When I got back from lunch I saw that MS Explore was open on the tool bar. When I opened it up and check the history someone had been looking at porn sites. Now I am concerned that the companies security police will think that I have been doing this. How do I real clean my hard drive? I am locked out from defragging it. Any sugguestion?

Open Windows Explorer. Double click on Windows, then double click on Cookies. Click on index.dat and on the toolbar choose Edit and Invert Selection. Delete everything except index.dat. Go back to Windows and open Temporary Internet Files. In the toolbar choose Edit and Select All, then delete everything. Now close Windows Explorer. Go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. Delete everything you can. Then reboot.

What do you do if there is nothing in the Temp Internet and Cookies file folders? The only thing I’ve located that actually shows results after I’ve been surfing the net is the Cache. I’m on an NT system and cannot defrag either.

I wouldn’t sweat it. If you have searched your hard drive and cannot find any evidence of files being downloaded then just be sure to Logout of the Network when away from the computer. At the very least put a password protected screen saver on for those short trips to the Head. What I look for when studying firewall logs is a Pattern of Internet abuse coming from the same machine over a period of days/weeks.

Now i’m not making any accusations or anything. Wait,…maybe I am. Dude if you’re gonna ask for advice at least be honest about
you digging into some porn. I mean, we’re all grown here.

If you’re looking for porn, don’t surf, use limewire or the like! :wink:

if they monitor internet usage then whatever is on your hd won’t matter squat (ain’t this ironic usage since squat to us is very important and big? hmm) the real log is on a server somewhere and by now it is probably so big that its a huge pain to open even. Also defragmenting doesn’t have anything to do with deleting internet history files. NOw lemme clue you in on a lil secret… internet logging is a pain… and looking at people’s usage is insane, there is so much damn activity you pour thru some of these logs for minutes without even getting till 9am and quite honestly network peoples have better things to do then to spy on you (I know I do, and if I don’t then I’m surfing the net heh). If you aren’t a dick to us network folk then you don’t have to worry about much.

To be honest, most likely you are using a computer that is on a network. Therefore, your history has already been recorded by the server. In that case, that means no matter what you get rid of on your computer someone who decides to pry and check will know anyhow through the server. I’m not trying to scare you or anything. If anything, I’d say don’t sweat it because Lord only knows this isn’t the first time anyone has surfed for porn through computers at work. Just make sure to never let it happen again.

On the file menu of Internet Explorer go to “Tools”, from there click on “Internet Options…”, a window will pop-up, in it there will be a button that says “Clear History” click it. Another box will pop-up, it will say, “Yes” and “No” click yes. The other thing you need to do is go to a program entitled “Disk Cleanup”, run it and delete the files that it recommends, this will include Internet files. That should be good enough for most admisitraitors.

Sounds like someone either has a problem with you or is very stupid/inconsiderate. I would report this immediately. It is not your property and you are not responsible for others using it improperly. I would tell anyone who had authority to do something about this. Tell the absolute truth; demand a new PC (or at least hard drive); and explain that you do not care who has caused this problem as long as you are not involved with any of it. If you will be reprimanded for leaving your station on I’d be prepared to accept that and its consiquences. But you should not be held liable for the material on the hard drive. Point out that this person used company property against policy and failed to report your mistake. If you are very afraid of losing your job contact a lawyer. Do not threaten or disclose legal advice to your company at all. And, as a T-Man, find the asshole outside of work and beat his ass. :slight_smile: This shit is serious now. I can’t even explore rival manufacture’s sites on my station at work. If I was to do so, I could get term’d on the spot.