Computer Help - Permaneant Erase

[Knoxville]

I work for a locally owned business. We net around 15 million in sales yearly with a 20% gain over the last 5 years. Anyhow, someone opened their mouth to a software alliance company and said that we are using unlicensed software. That is a true statement, there are a few programs floating around that have been bootlegged. It is going to cost the company around 60,000$ however you look at it. Now the company has to go through every computer and inventory all programs and make sure that they are licensed. I have brough some from home to use that are not licensed. I deleted these off of my work computer, deleted all folders associated with the programs, but I'm still nervous that there might be a way to trace that. Is there anything out there that will permaneantly erase it from your hardrive? I think I've heard of some programs like this, but not sure. Thanks!!

Knox

[Scrumhalf]

I assume reformatting your hard drive is not an option?

[Knoxville]

No....

[BBAddict]

I think the best kind of program would be one that actually wrote and rewrote over the bytes in memory that you are concerned about-I know there are programs (maybe even free) that do that-I'll see what I can find.

[Knoxville]

Thanks BB

[Scrumhalf]

Here is something that may be what you are looking for:

Sure Delete v5.1.1

Sometimes "delete" means "kinda sorta delete." When you drag a file to the Recycle Bin, you only move it to a new location. Even when you empty the bin, your files are still retrievable by Undelete utilities. Sure Delete permanently deletes that data from your drive. Whether you want to shred sensitive information or free up resources on your hard drive, this program ensures that it's done permanently. Rather than simply deleting file references on your computer, the program actually destroys the data itself. Sure Delete offers a wizard-style interface that guides you through the process of deleting files, cleaning up your hard drive in minutes. Sure Delete supports the FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS disk formats.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil...d,22393,00.asp

[wheyman]

I would make sure that you have completely removed the software and components first. Then rip it out of the registry, most programs will leave the registry entries there. To do this go to start-run type regedit or regedt32 for NT then run a search on the program and delete. BE CAREFUL DOING THIS.

To be honest, you can format your hard drive and still be able to recover old data if the company wants to spend the money to do it. Nothing is ever "deleted" from you hard drive; that memory space is just available again when you choose to delete something.

Good luck!

WM