Data Recovery Objective
How to clean a PC of data before you give it to someone?
Let me be clear about this. I’m not supper paranoid, I don’t save any sensitive data to my hard drive, and my #1 objective is to eliminate any browsing information (passwords, usernames, email, credit card numbers, and history). I know there is always a risk that an experienced user may get a hold of my photos or documents through recovery software, but I really don’t care that much if someone gets a hold of my Christmas photos or an English paper. My computer did not come with a recovery disk, and the hard drive is non removable. For the connivence of the next owner, I just want everything the way it was when it came out of the box. My only concern is browsing data. To have a fair amount of security, is clearing all browsing data enough?
Use CCleaner at http://www.piriform.com/
The best option to use when you run the program is “wipe free space” which essentially zero’s out ALL free areas of your hard drive so that recovery software cannot access anything. It will also clean out all of the browsing data that is hidden in your PC.
BCM Institute, BCMpedia – What is a Recovery Point Objective?