Delete Files on Hard drive

I need to clear the hard drive of files. I opened some emails on my girlfriends laptop that were pornographic. they were mostly videos and some pictures. she is a school teacher and could lose her job if the files were found. is there anything I can do to erase them or do I need to take it for service. it is a hp notebook that was just purchased in the last 6months. thanks

Ken Doyle

 

:major You can try this link

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=78

download the True Delete Utility, it's a free download for permanently deleting files. I have never used it, but from what I hear it's pretty good. If you want to pay for one.

Another free one is

www.fileshredder.org

or Digital Shredder

www.anonymizer.com/consumer/products/trial/

which may be the best. There's a trial or you can pay for it. HTH!

 

Assuming these files were not wanted (spam) your girlfriend has a bigger problem than just the ones you inadvertantly opened.

All (UK)education establishments have IT support. Also the education sector has many agreements with good antivirus / antispam such as Sophos, which specialises in the sector.
I suggest she takes it there and explains that she is receiving unwanted email. They will not only help cleanup properly and safely, but help with mailwashing/ proper email setttings in the future to prevent recurrence. I'm sure they will be very sympathetic rather than accusatory. These things are best reported.

 

Isn't that dependant on what email she received them under? If it's her personal account (say yahoo or gmail) they shouldn't have a trace on their mail servers. If it's a school account then ... obviously they have record. Assuming they are spam and the poster was too embarrassed to say otherwise. If the emails have incriminating information like persons name and such may have IT be suspicious, I know I might be. Make sure she fully evaluates the situation before bringing it to anyones attention. If it truly was spam, then you may not have a problem. Then again, depending on how many you opened and what mail service they came in on. I would just be careful before asking them (school IT) for help. But! I'm not ruling it out at all! :major

 

Privates need to be aware that Major Geeks offers suitable deletion software and posters are expected to promote these in their replies.
Major Geeks only offer thoroughly tried & tested software, without unwanted 'extras' that come from some other download sites.

Kendoyle (and perhaps others) should be aware that windows also stores coded index files about browsing history. Most of the 'Cleaners' do not touch these.

If you subscribe to Google, Yahoo, BT and other organisations toolbars and desktops they store similar indexes on their own systems. You can't get at these.

It's not embarassing to be the victim of someone else's activity. It can be embarassing to be later found to have covered it up.

http://majorgeeks.com/Index.dat_Analyzer_d5259.html