Leaving job, PC personal info deletion guide? [closed]

Question

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What steps should be taken to clean a pc when moving to a new job?

I'm quitting my current job, and I want to make sure all my personal stuff gets whipped off the computer.

I know everybody stores stuff on different places, but is there any quick guide of locations (folders) and apps that might need deletion? you know, just to be sure I erased from all the places and I don't forget any (like those were apps save stuff automatically, the data folders and such)

I have erased most of my docs in My Document folder, and I am going to erase all the cookies and stored history in my browsers (opera, ie, ff, chrome) (by the way is there any tool for this?)

Answer 1

First and foremost, backup your stuff you need to a USB drive, or email to yourself, etc.

In Windows XP: c:\Documents and users\: My Docs, Music, Desktop, and check inside of Application Data for other interesting stuff, but that's not as important. (and be careful)

in vista\Win7: C:\users\\: Documents, music, videos, pictures, Desktop, and check inside AppData(its hidden) for other things. (and be careful again)

Open Firefox and IE, Clear cache, history, passwords, etc. Run CCleaner to get rid of all the 'crap' thats laying around, tell it to remove darn near everything.

If they are a strict company, remove any non-standard software you might have used, (like Firefox, Paint.Net, etc)

Empty the recycle bin!!!! (I can't tell you how many people forget this part!) Run a tool like eraser to wipe free space, so that files that you deleted are not recoverable. After emptying the recycle bin,

Answer 2

Crap Cleaner will take care of a lot of things (automation of clearing browser data included), and if there is any software that you installed that you think should be removed (that you installed), use Revo Uninstaller.

I'm not promising that these will take care of everything, but they will take care of a decent amount. If you used the computer mostly for the web browser, it will take care of a decent amount.

Answer 3

If I were inheriting a computer used by an ex-employee, I would want it to be clean and pristine. Who knows what got left behind? (Whatever passes for) the IT department should do a re-install of the OS and standard apps -- ask them. If that is the case, use something like Darik's Boot and Nuke and just start a wipe of the whole drive on the way out the door. (IT might start from scratch but not actually zero every sector on the disk.)