Zeroing out data without the grey setup disks - is it possible?

[Jim Johns]

Hi all,

First off, I realise this topic has been discussed a lot so I apologise if this new thread is a repeat of another - I searched for the question I want to ask but couldn't find anything.

Basically, I'm confused about the zeroing out data process. I need to be certain that it's impossible to tell if internet pages of a particular nature have been viewed on this macbook. I was feeling paranoid so I ran a 7 pass overwrite. However my CD drive doesn't work so I was unable to do anything with the grey setup CDs. Nothing seems to be particularly different following the overwrite - the files on my desktop had been deleted but that was all I could notice (I am a beginner mac user though).

So now I'm not sure where I'm at. Would the 7 pass have overwritten all the sensitive info I wish to make unrecoverable, even without using the setup CDs?

Thanks for any help.

 

[miles01110]

7-pass erase is sufficient to make data unrecoverable, but it only erases free space on the drive. Internet history is stored in a file somewhere, and therefore isn't free space. You have to find this file, delete it, then 7-pass erase.

I'm not sure if the "Clear History" function included in all modern browsers makes the data unrecoverable.

 

[Jim Johns]

Thanks.
So any suggestions where to find this file?

 

[miles01110]

I'd probably just Google things like "File internet history is stored in for Firefox" or whatever browser you're using.

 

[Eidorian]

Thanks.
So any suggestions where to find this file?

It's in Disk Utility. You can erase the free space with several levels of security. This would be after clearing your history of the browser that you're using.

I don't expect many people to require secure erasure after clearing your history though.

 

[Jim Johns]

It's in Disk Utility. You can erase the free space with several levels of security. This would be after clearing your history of the browser that you're using.

I don't expect many people to require secure erasure after clearing your history though.

I appreciate your help but I'm confused. You're saying that clearing the cache, history and so on from Firefox should be secure & adequate? I was under the impression that some sort of trace/history files existed and were stored somewhere on the mac & that a standard 'delete history' wouldn't get rid of them..