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How to Securely Erase Private Data

Contents

How to Set Up and Use Eraser

CAUTION: Reading the following instructions carelessly could cause you to disable your system and / or lose data you want to keep. So be sure to read them carefully.

Set Up Eraser

Index.dat Files

Previous: Other Ways to Erase Index.dat Files

Other Index.dat Files

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The following index.dat files are also likely to contain private data. Just to make sure you've gotten everything, you may want to create tasks for them as well.

Some of them may contain no data at all, and some may only need to be erased once, after which - if you've found that to be true - you'll want to delete those tasks to avoid getting ''not found'' errors.

(replace UN with your user name)

Windows Vista
In C:\WINDOWS(or WINNT)\system32\config\systemprofile:
In C:\Users\Administrator
In C:\Users\Default User
In C:\Users\LocalService
In C:\Users\NetworkService:
History\History.IE5\index.dat
History\History.IE5\MSHist01...\index.dat
History\Low\History.IE5\index.dat
History\Low\History.IE5\MSHist01...\index.dat
Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5\index.dat

In C:\Users\UN\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft
Internet Explorer\UserData\index.dat
Internet Explorer\UserData\Low\index.dat
Windows\Cookies\index.dat
Windows\Cookies\Low\index.dat

C:\Users\UN\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Virtualized\

Windows XP
In C:\WINDOWS(or WINNT)\system32\config\systemprofile
In C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator
In C:\Documents and Settings\Default User
In C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService
In C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\:
Cookies\index.dat
Local Settings\History\History.IE5\index.dat
Local Settings\History\History.IE5\MSHist01...\index.dat
Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat

In the Main Administrator Account in Safe Mode with On-Demand

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Note: Some people believe the index.dat files for the currently logged on account aren't locked in Safe Mode, making it possible to erase them. But after testing that belief myself, Eraser gave me an error message saying it couldn't access the files because another process was using them. The following method solves that problem.

If you have administrative access:

  1. Follow the instructions in the To Create Erasing Tasks section.
  2. Click on On-Demand and create tasks for the folders listed in the Document and Browser History section or, if you prefer, the cookie and TIF index.dat files and other index.dat files (remember to select File instead of Files on folder).
  3. Start up Windows in Safe Mode (press the F5 button repeatedly when starting or restarting your computer) and log in to your main, and normally hidden, Administrator account (unless you've changed them, the default username is administrator and the password is blank).
  4. Run all the tasks in Eraser every time after going online.
In a Temporary Administrator Account with On-Demand

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WARNING: If you forget to close the temporary account every time after running Eraser in it, that account will add a significant security vulnerability to your system, even with a strong password, but setting a strong password for it, if you plan on keeping it, certainly lessens the vulnerability it creates.

So if you use this method, either make sure you close the account every time after running Eraser or set a strong password for it.

If you have administrative access:

  1. Follow the instructions in the To Create Erasing Tasks section.
  2. Click on On-Demand and create tasks for the folders listed in the Document and Browser History section or, if you prefer, the cookie and TIF index.dat files and other index.dat files (remember to select File instead of Files on folder).
  3. Create a temporary account with administrative access every time you're ready to erase them, or set a strong password if you plan on keeping it.
  4. Log out of your account and into that one.
  5. Run all the tasks in Eraser. It will securely erase all the contents of each folder listed, including the index.dat files.
  6. Close the account, if you don't plan on keeping it.
From a Removable Medium with Eraser or at the Command Prompt

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Use one of these methods to either bring up the command prompt or access your index.dat files directly from a GNU/Linux Live CD, DVD or USB, BartPE or better yet Ultimate Boot CD for Windows with the Eraser plugin (claims to meet DOD and Gutmann standards) or Drive Eraser plugin. (To see where they're located, see my instructions below.)


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