IT - how much do they know - can they get me after I've gone

[Mark H 1984]

I'm leaving my current bank to go to another one at the end of next week.

As such my laptop (the one I'm on now) will have to be returned.

I have not been on anything really bad - however during the thread of hottest lass or whatever it was called I did google search some girls with the safe search off.

Can they tell what websites I've been on - what I have typed in various motoring forums - will they be able to currently tell what I'm doing - will my laptop keep this info saved.

What will they do when they find out!!!

[SirTainly]

Wipe the disk before you return it ?

[bigandclever]

SirTainly said:

Wipe the disk before you return it ?

And the keyboard while you're at it, you filthy googler

[Poledriver]

OOOOOH! You're in trouble, make sure thaey have paid you everything before you hand back the laptop!

ETA Then RUN!!

Edited by Poledriver on Friday 24th October 12:58

[illmonkey]

If you dont wipe it well enough, they'll still be able to look at images stored etc (cached from internet, not just downloaded)

It takes a lot of wipes to get rid of everything, if you are THAT worried, go buy a new drive and put it in, keeping the original.

[grumbledoak]

They'll already have the info logged at the firewall, should they care to look. Don't annoy anyone and they won't go looking...

[Jinx]

Run ccleaner. Should remove most of the dodgy temp files.

[Mark H 1984]

I was going with the mentality of "if they haven't blocked it - I'm aloud to look at it".

Probably not the best idea.

[john_p]

Tools, Options, Clear Browsing History
Have a nose about in that menu and click any button relating to stored searches, visited web pages etc

They could probably find traces of what you've looked at if they really got into it but I doubt they'll really be arsed, they'll just flatten it and reinstall it for the next user (or put your laptop in a cupboard and forget about it)

HTH

[UpTheIron]

Depending upon how you connected to the Internet, and how the laptop is configured they will already know.

They aren't going to care though.

If your worried then in future don't use a work tool for personal surfing.

[illmonkey]

grumbledoak said:

They'll already have the info logged at the firewall, should they care to look. Don't annoy anyone and they won't go looking...

Thats if your at work or going over their VPN. If hes connected it to a home network they cant log at their firewall. On the downside, there is a possibility there is a "collector" on the local disk and uploads to the server once he IS on their network.

Jinx said:

Run ccleaner. Should remove most of the dodgy temp files.

That wont wipe it 100%

Mark H 1984 said:

I was going with the mentality of "if they haven't blocked it - I'm aloud to look at it".

Probably not the best idea.

No....

[Piers917]

In Internet Explorer, go to Tools, then Delete Browsing History, and select the Delete All option at the bottom.

[DogCam]

Ideally, if you have system disks that came with the lappy then use these to reinstall the operating system. This will wipe the HD clean and put the whole thing back to factory settings.

Make sure you copy any files you want to keep first though as you will lose them by doing this.

[Cookie172]

UpTheIron said:

Depending upon how you connected to the Internet, and how the laptop is configured they will already know.

They aren't going to care though.

If your worried then in future don't use a work tool for personal surfing.

What he said.

I don't take an interest in someones laptop after they've left unless they've gone for reasons that aren't explained to me.

So don't make a fuss, and nobody will care.

[Tim S]

What on earth would your current employer have to gain by trawling through your hard disk?

In all likelihood they'll wipe it, restack it and give it to someone else unless it's obsolete (> 3years old) in which case they'll wipe it and stick it in a skip.

[Cookie172]

DogCam said:

Ideally, if you have system disks that came with the lappy then use these to reinstall the operating system. This will wipe the HD clean and put the whole thing back to factory settings.

Make sure you copy any files you want to keep first though as you will lose them by doing this.

If you did this, it would make it plainly obvious that you were up to no good.

[cottonfoo]

Unless they've got it in for you they won't bother, they'll probably just re-image it for the next user. Just delete your history, cached items and anything else as above.

[Roop]

1. Make sure you clean all your personal *ahem* folders.

2. Download Ccleaner and run it wiping all temp etc.

3. Download Recuva (made by same people as CCleaner). In advanced mode, do a deep scan to find all files potentially recoverable. Then in options select safe deletio mode to either NSA 9-pass or Gutmann 35 pass deletion. Check all potentially recoverable files and run the safe deletion. Ain't no way those mofos are coming back.

Alternatively, take out the hard disk. Smash it up with a hammer multiple times then incinerate it.



PS: Don't forget to remove your SD card that is full of pr0n before you hand the machine back.

[ChristianZS]

Even when you do delete all your history files there is a little file which hides in the Temporary Internet folders called "Index.Dat". Its a file which holds a record of all viewed pages. If you can delete it or clear it they probably wont look any harder to see where you have been. Just do some boring browsing to fill it back up though!

[GingerWizard]

www.adaware.com
+ run all the anitvirus stuff you have, clear out the internet history/objects/files/.
Defrag the computer
Look in add/remove programs, clear that up.

thats about all i know.....