When you delete a file in windows the file is moved to the recycle bin, but did you know that even after emptying the recycle bin the file still exists? Whether you’re giving your old computer to a family member, donating it to a charity or just tossing it out in the trash, you must securely erase the hard drive to protect your data!

When you delete a file you’re simply telling the operating system (i.e. Windows) the file is no longer needed and it’s OK to overwrite the storage space it once took up. If the the actual space on the hard drive has not yet been overwritten with new data the information still exists and is recoverable, even though you can’t see it. In some cases even overwritten the space still leaves some of the data recoverable.

The only way to be sure your personal data is completely safe is to use a tool that will securely erase your drive buy writing over it with multiple passes of random data. The good news is there are plenty of good free tools to handle this, below are two of the most popular.

A program like eraser can securely erase an entire hard drive or specific files and folders of drives your still using. Eraser can also be used to overwrite “white space” of active drives. This means you can use it to securely erase all free space on your hard drive and ensure data from previously deleted files is no longer recoverable.

Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is another excellent program when you need to securely erase an entire hard drive. You simply add the tool to a CD, USB stick, DVD or floppy drive and then boot your computer with the device connected. During the boot process your computer will find the tool and ask you to choose which drives you want to wipe. Select the drive or partition you want to erase and off it goes.

Technorati Tags: hard-drives, security, utilities, boot-cd, boot-disk, eraser, DBAN

Searching the web through Yahoo! just became much safer thanks to a new feature called SearchScan. Every time you search the web using Yahoo you will see warning messages alongside the results alerting you to potentially dangerous websites. What a great feature! Now you have a heads up whenever a site you’re about to visit has the potential to harm your computer!

SearchScan was created through a Yahoo! partnership with the well-known antivirus provider McAfee, leveraging their SiteAdvisor technology! The three main protection features SearchScan offers are as follows:

• Browser Exploits — These are sites that can stealthily harm a user’s computer or install malware simply by visiting the site. Beginning today, any such sites or pages included in McAfee’s data will be removed from search results automatically.
• Dangerous Downloads — SearchScan will display warnings next to search results for sites that offer potentially dangerous software, such as viruses, spyware or adware. Users often may be unaware that these can be passed along with the screensavers, games and other software downloads.
• Unsolicited Email — SearchScan will alert users to scanned sites that send unsolicited emails or inappropriately share email addresses with third parties.

The best part about this feature is that any website known to take advantage of browser exploits will be removed from Yahoo! search results automatically. This means once a problem site is found and reported it will be removed from the Yahoo! index preventing it from infecting other Yahoo! visitors.

Another great idea, SearchScan is turned on automatically so everyone is protected right from the start, you don’t have to do anything. I love this and hope other search engines will jump on the bandwagon soon. A feature like SearchScan has the potential to inform and protect millions of users who don’t know how to recognize potentially harmful sites, WAY TO GO YAHOO!

Technorati Tags: Yahoo!, SearchScan, McAfee, SiteAdvisor

This months PC Magazine features “72 Tips for Safer Computing“. 72 tips sounds like a lot but they’re short and make for a relatively quick read. The information is great and easy to understand for non-techies so I suggest taking a quick look to see if there is anything you may have left out of your security arsenal.

The article is full of great information but not knowing how to act on some of the tips could be an issue for some people. Most of them will at least point you in the right direction, try taking a look at some of the articles on ComputersConfuseMe.com or using the advanced search along the right side of this site to find more details on a particular area that may be of interest. A web search through Google will probably also be quite helpful, however maybe not as targeted as the advanced search, which is also powered by Google.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a post here or contact me via email.

Technorati Tags: tips, security, PCMag, afer-computing

Fending off spyware is an extremely important part of maintaining your computers top performance and helping to protect your personal information. The term spyware refers to software that’s installed on your computer without your consent and is used to track your activities. The information gathered by spyware is typically used to display targeted advertisements (those annoying popup advertisements you constantly get) but could also lead to identity theft. To protect yourself against this type of threat you need to install and run antispyware software.

Antispyware software comes in two main forms, one which requires manual scanning and another which scans in real-time like antivirus software. I recommend installing two different programs, preferably one of each since no one program will catch all spyware programs and two simultaneously installed real-time scanners could interfere with each other. I recommend installing Microsoft’s Free real-time scanner “Windows Defender” and either/both of the free manual scanners: Spybot Search & Destroy or Ad-Aware SE.

My favorite free antispyware program is Spybot and they’ve recently updated:
Safer-networking.org has released their first Spybot Search & Destroy version update (1.4 to 1.5) in what seems to be about two years. The new update includes:

a lot of improved detection mechanisms (which in parts were already made available through the regular 1.4 updates in the past months), improved Operating System support (Windows Vista integration, restored support for Windows 95, more compatibility with Wine, support for bootable Windows CDs), improved browser support (e.g. for immunization) and much more

There doesn’t appear to be any major differences but I’d still recommend updating if you’re using 1.4. If you’re not using any form of antispyware then now is the time!

To learn more about Spyware and Viruses read the following two articles on www.ComputersConfuseMe.com:

• Basic Spyware Guide
• Basic Virus Guide

Technorati Tags: spybot, spyware, security

Here is a perfect example of why you should change the default password on your wireless router. A full list of the default user names and passwords for pretty much any router available can be found here. A list like this is not uncommon and it’s not necessarily a bad thing, the information posted here can easily be found with a quick web search anyhow.

Leaving your router set to the default user name and password leaves your router available for anyone to log on and change your settings. Someone could log in, change a setting and make you vulnerable to hacking without you ever knowing.

Read the owners manual that came with your router or check the manufacturers website to learn how to secure your wireless router.

Technorati Tags: security, routers, networking