I need to know if RAM or any other part of a computer BESIDES the hard drive contains private info

Hi, I'm getting rid of my computer (donating) it and I am using Webroot Window Washer to do a total system erase... I might even destroy the hard drive altogether...

I need to know if there is any sensitive information that is kept in the computer RAM (memory)...

I don't know much about RAM but I want to know if I need to throw this part of the computer away as well to insure my privacy is protected...

Thanks very much in advance.

 

Put simply, any data in RAM is only held there while the RAM chips are receiving power and vanishes forever as soon the power is switched off, so you need not remove them. The data cannot be recovered at a later time.

 

Even if you wipe your hard disk, the information is still there. If the person realy wants to get information from your hard disk then all he/she has to do is get a file recovery tool that reads by the sectors and not by the file system table. So if you are really worried about your private information possibly getting lose I would toss the drive.

 

I am using wipe software (Webroot Window Washer, Zilla Data Nuker, Darik something, Ashampoo Win Optimizer, CCleaner, System Cleaner 5, Sakina Surf Maid, Privacy Guard, Steganos Internet Trace something...)

I'm reformatting the hard drive, nuking the hard drive... using the DOD standards, some German algorithm and the Guttmann method....

Would the stuff still be retrievable after all of that? It seems like overkill to me but one can never be too safe...

Can anyone suggest programs that they use to permanently get rid of data?

I'm not so much of a noob that I think just sending things to the recycle bin is enough, but I think I'm taking a fair amount of precautions...

 

You're making me wonder just what the hell is on that drive?

Just how important is it that your data is never seen by anybody again? Are are running a branch office of Al-Qaeda, or do you have a stash of illegal porn, or have you been entrusted with the names and addresses of the entire Mafia? If the answer is "yes", then you would dismantle the drive and destroy the platters, just for peace of mind, because the actual value of a second hand hard drive is worth so much less than the trouble you would get in if the data was recovered and traced back to you. Even if the chances of anybody getting the data off the drive was very small. Possibly if the drive was dismantled by the CIA and the platters put in a special rig that cost $20,000 or scanned for weeks by a special electron microscope that cost half a million dollars, then maybe they would get something, and that's still a maybe. It would cost a lot, and they would have to have a really good reason for doing it. (Such a good reason that you are probably screwed even if they cannot read the disk, because they are onto you anyway)

If you're just talking about ordinary privacy issues to do with ordinary data that an ordinary person might have put on the drive, then those methods you have outlined are going to be fine. Mom won't see your pictures of bikini-clad babes. An identity thief won't get your social security number. So relax. I think maybe you are getting a little paranoid.

 

Wow...

I'm just concerned because I use my computer to budget my money, I stored my passwords to my email addresses and stuff so I wouldn't forget them... I also keep backups of emails and junk like that...

I have a knack for going overboard when it comes to being thorough with these things...

The funny thing is that I'm donating the computer to someone I know and trust... I just get myself pysched out on the the "down the line" stuff...

A simple answer to my question would suffice, rather than a rant on your assumptions about my computer, which is libelous by the way..

Thanks again, I'm glad I come to Afterdawn for help

 

Sorry, pal, but you got the answer that you got.

My "rant" is neither libelous (American spelling) nor libellous (British spelling). To commit libel is to state falsely that a named, identifiable person committed a sufficently disreputable act that their reputation was actually verifiably damaged as a result. I merely gave some examples of types of data that warranted different approaches to hard drive disposal, with no suggestion whatsoever that they applied to you.

 

Way to own a dictionary...

I'm sorry, I've obviously come to the wrong place...

This forum, much like many others, is filled with mods who take their (unsually) unpaid job too seriously, and hover like Gods looking to condescend to "noobs" or throw their weight around verbally...

I asked a simple question, only to be insulted. I won't consult this place again. I responded, and posted in a civil manner and you didn't return the favor...

Bye

 

Be careful what you ask for......

 

AMEN. TWERPS WHINE FOR HELP, THEN DISLIKE A DETAILED AND PROPER ANSWER.
DUMSKY ACTED LIKE THE WAR PLAN WAS IN THERE SOMEPLACE.
IF I WAS THAT PARANOID, I'D KEEP THE THING.
PERSONALLY, I THINK INDOCHINE WAS TOO NICE.

 

Let it die already, I asked a question... I got an attitudinal response.

It was a legitimate concern... and since you have f*** all idea what personal files and documents I have on my computer, what I do for a living or anything else, so your measurement of my relative concern is purely speculative... and rude.

I wasn't whining, I was asking for help

And all the a-holes come out of the woodwork...

Please cancel my account here or tell me how to do it.

I'm a civil and peaceful individual, but your responses have been rude...

In this day and age it is perfectly reasonable for someone to be paranoid about getting rid of a computer... And since I DON'T want to keep it and I DON'T want to destroy it... I was researching my options..

and this is obviously not the place to do it based on responses from people who probably do nothing with their lives but frequent this forum and decry the inexperience of "noobs"..

But the simple fact of the matter is that EVERYONE had to be taught EV EVERYTHING that is on this website... NO ONE was born with the knowledge, so great, you know something that someone doesn't and that makes you feel big... go shove it in your ass and spin on it...