Expert: James Filmer - 10/6/2010

Question
Hi:  I have a question about cleaning my computer.  Due to
security concerns (soon to be ex-husband), I would like to
be able to completely clean my laptop.  I would like to be
able to remove the following:

1)  All internet search history from any browsers that may
have been used.
2)  Ensure that any documents, photos other private stuff
that I have deleted stays deleted.  I may even just delete
all documents on my laptop, just to be on the safe side and
also increase computer speed.

There are MANY software companies online advertising this
type of service - is there one or two that you could
recommend as particularly good?  Thanks!  Maggy

Answer
Dear Maggy,

Have tried (and like) several really good ones, but CCleaner.com is used at the moment link on Enrgy21.com/tools

There are several highly rated ones that are just as good.

Techsupportalert.com/best-free-file-cleaner.htm

If you stick to one of the highly rated ones. Try one, but certainly try several if you want until you find the one you like. It will likely turn out to be whichever you're most comfortable with in terms or ease of use.

Cnet.com, about.com and some of the help sites on Enrgy21 com have excellent reviews too, but for your purposes, likely one of the ones on Techsupport will do the job.

CCleaner and others have similar settings:

"...four methods of secure deletion: a Simple Overwrite (1 pass), DOD 5220.22-M (3 passes), NSA (7 passes), and Gutmann (35 passes). A 'pass' refers to how many times CCleaner writes over the spot on the hard drive. The more times CCleaner writes to that spot, the harder the file will be to recover by any means. The drawback is that it will take CCleaner longer to complete the job."