# How do I clear any signs of searches on my computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2006, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641 "2006-01-19T09:44:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PaperDoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@PaperDoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperDoll)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/1 "2006-01-19T09:44:01Z")
Let’s just say I was looking at porn. How do I hide the evidence? Tell me everything I must delete form my computer. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/2 "2006-01-19T09:51:12Z")
You can do it manually, but [url=“[http://www.ccleaner.com/](http://www.ccleaner.com/)”] is easier and more thorough. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/3 "2006-01-19T09:52:14Z")
:smack: [CCleaner](http://www.ccleaner.com/) ---
**Author:** ![PaperDoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@PaperDoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperDoll)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/4 "2006-01-20T01:18:20Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > :smack: [CCleaner](http://www.ccleaner.com/) How would I manually clean my computer because your link is a tour and I can’t find the place to click to clean my computer? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/5 "2006-01-20T01:21:06Z")
> [@PaperDoll](#): > > How would I manually clean my computer because your link is a tour and I can’t find the place to click to clean my computer? click on “download” at the top of the page ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/6 "2006-01-20T01:23:33Z")
If you install the Opera browser (free, [www.opera.com](http://www.opera.com)) there is a “Delete Private Data” button that wipes your browser history, cookies, etc. TweakUI from Microsoft (little control panel applet) has “IE” and “Paranoia” settings that will let you automatically wipe this sort of stuff (including your recently opened documents lists) at logon. And there are doubtless tons of third-party apps that will do similar things. Please note that this won’t help with, for the sake of argument, the current DOJ “request” to Google for a heap of search results to see who’s looking at porn. Those records are kept by Google and they’ve basically got “IP address & search results”. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/7 "2006-01-20T01:25:05Z")
Boy, somebody’s in a bit of a panic, aren’t they. 🙂 If I had to do it manually, I’d delete my temporary internet files and history. You might also need to delete the search fields if you used a search engine (and if your browser has “auto complete” turned on) to find the offending sites. ---
**Author:** ![Goblin\_Shark\_Proboscis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Goblin\_Shark\_Proboscis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goblin_Shark_Proboscis)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/8 "2006-01-20T01:34:07Z")
> [@PaperDoll](#): > > Let’s just say I was looking at porn. How do I hide the evidence? Tell me everything I must delete form my computer. Hiding the evidence from a casual browser is easy - do as the above dictate. Hiding evidence from law-enforcement officials who know how to break out ‘deleted’ data from discs is so impossible, the only sure way is to reformat your entire hard drive numerous times (to make sure the overwrite hits every spot). Sorry, but thems the breaks. Nothing is ever immediately ‘deleted’ from your machine, even when you empty the recycle bin. It stays on your computer until it is physically written over with data, and even then can sometimes be recreated. IANA data hacker - but I know enough. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/9 "2006-01-20T01:41:45Z")
If you were that worried, dismantling the hard drive and destroying the platters in a fire would probably be more rapidly secure than multiple overwrites. In any case though, as **Valgard** says; that only destroys local data; logs of what IP address was assigned to you at what time are kept by your ISP and logs of what content was served up to what IP are kept all over the place. The only truly secure way to cover your tracks is to irretrievably destroy the entire internet. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/10 "2006-01-20T01:47:48Z")
> [@Goblin Shark Proboscis](#): > > Hiding evidence from law-enforcement officials who know how to break out ‘deleted’ data from discs is so impossible, the only sure way is to reformat your entire hard drive numerous times (to make sure the overwrite hits every spot). Not true. It is true that a “deleted” file is not truly deleted from your computer. The space the file was in is merely made available for other data to be written to it. Untill something overwrites it the data is still there. What’s more, if some really slick operator like the CIA wants to read something that was there they have techniques to rebuild data even if it has been overwritten (I was told they can look at tracks next to the track where the data was and from some resdiual effect can rebuild data in the track between those two…unverified though so take that with a block of salt). That said there are utilities that really erase data from your harddrive. There is such a thing a a government grade deletion. As I understand it the file is deleted then random crud is written into the deleted file’s spot several times thus bolloxing any attempt to figure out what was once there (again I may have the “hows” of it wrong). Nevertheless such things exist and exist for the public at large. Here is one such tool you can buy that will do it for you. Doubtless there are others and for all I know some may even be free. [http://www.anonymizer.com/consumer/products/digital\_shredder/?id=KNC-AK0343033364](http://www.anonymizer.com/consumer/products/digital_shredder/?id=KNC-AK0343033364) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/11 "2006-01-20T01:55:04Z")
> [@](#): > > (I was told they can look at tracks next to the track where the data was and from some resdiual effect can rebuild data in the track between those two…unverified though so take that with a block of salt). It works sort of like that, but also, magnetised domains may be thought of as similar to little dents in a flat sheet of tinfoil; the first time you poke it, you get a dent; when you poke it back again from the other side, the dent pops out the other way, but is surrounded by a slight dip - a residual part of the original dent; each successive reversal of the dent not only changes the dent itself, but also creates a sort of ring of ripples moving outward; this ring of ripples represents the history of what has been happening to that dent. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/12 "2006-01-20T02:06:19Z")
First, let me worry aloud and say I hope the material isn’t illegal. But if you’re looking for the ultimate in _future_ security, I wonder if the software or services such as those sold at [www.anonymizer.com](http://www.anonymizer.com) might be up your alley. Can a person use an ISP go-between for more anonymous surfing, or is that too easily circumvented? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/13 "2006-01-20T02:21:15Z")
Maybe we should be asking who the OP needs to hide from. Nosey mother-in-law or the feds? ---
**Author:** ![PaperDoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@PaperDoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperDoll)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/14 "2006-01-20T02:37:43Z")
I’m hiding from my husbands family who uses this computer. I was looking at guy porn and I feel a little ashamed of what I did. Nothing illegal here. No kiddie porn. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/15 "2006-01-20T02:42:30Z")
Then, just delete the temporary internet files and history. That’s fine for the causual user. Oh, and delete the bad cookies. Not all of them for Gods sakes! I have heard that doing a Disk Defrag help hide deleted files. Not a bad idea, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/16 "2006-01-20T03:04:00Z")
**PaperDoll** , what type of operating system are you using? Windows? Mac? And what type of web browser are you using? Internet Explorer? Safari? Other? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/17 "2006-01-20T03:22:28Z")
Of course, all this deleting is going to make anyone with a suspicious mind wonder what you’ve been looking at that you didn’t want anyone to know about. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/18 "2006-01-20T03:24:52Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Of course, all this deleting is going to make anyone with a suspicious mind wonder what you’ve been looking at that you didn’t want anyone to know about. A blank internet history and no cookies always peaks my interest. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/19 "2006-01-20T04:10:43Z")
piques ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641/20 "2006-01-20T04:32:39Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > piques That too :smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clear-any-signs-of-searches-on-my-computer/340641.md?page=2)