Internet Privacy/Security

[andrewmitch]

what do you mean by user account vs admin account? is that for email or the ISP log on?


Should the software programs (eg Anti-Key logger) be from a foreign country w/ a foreign address? I would think that the US DOJ could easily go to (if not already) and demand a work around for them.

Have you ever heard of FindNot? They seem to get me about 80% of my goal.

http://www.findnot.com/

[netwrkranger]

What operating system are you using? Windows XP?

I am not going to go into user accounts and administrative groups here. You will need to go to support.microsoft.com for more information.

Any applications I recommend, you can find them free via Google for download.

There are no shortcuts of quick fixes for security. If you want a secure system, you will need to learn what you are doing i.e. operating systems, Interent, TCP/IP, etc.

[andrewmitch]

OK - I get the common user v admin user issue now.

I use Windows XP.

[netwrkranger]

The great thing about computers is that anything and everything you want to know about them are available online. If one is willing to read and hunt for what they want/need, you can do anything and everything with computers.

There is VERY, VERY little that an individual can't do with computers that enterprise corporations do. You can literally do anything i.e setup servers, e-mail and network infrastructure, anything.

- netwrkranger

[Shuftin]

http://www.anon-online.org/index_en.html

This may be what you're looking for. It's free. Download and install it. You'll have to manually set it as a proxy.

I've personally used my own website, http://policecrimes.org/forum/index.php , to check visitors (myself) arriving from these ISP's. It works 100% of the time.

NOTE: It is slow. Your internet actions go to Dresden Germany and then out into the WWW. The replies or results return to Dresden Germany and then to you.

[andrewmitch]

thank you Shuftin & NetworkRanger

I tried doing the shredding and deleting files and messed up my PC - it wouldn't re-boot. I had to reformat the Hard Drive.

Does reformating clean everything out do you still need to use a Shredder? I'd prefer to stay away from the Shredder given what happened last night. It was either the shredder or some manual deletes I did to "TEMP" files that messed me up.

[netwrkranger]

What did you do? O_o

What application did you use to shred your drive?

Reformatting does not remove the data from the drive. It is still able to be recovered with recovery tools.

The best way of cleaning a drive are either shredding, zapping it with a magnet, or melting the drive (the platters in particular).

I have an idea for you. Download VMWare. Install the application. Build a test Windows XP image (guest OS). Test the applications in that virtual image. If it destroys the image there is no problem. You can back up the image before commencing testing. When your testing is sufficient, then install it on your host OS.

- netwrkranger

[andrewmitch]

Hmmm....I think the shredder wasn't the problem. I think what did my system in was I deleted some Temp Files (eg Windows/Temp) that I shouldn't have. Hoever, I am still concerned about using the Shredder. I can't tell you which one because everything was deleted! Are you sure as long as I only shred "empty space" I'll be "OK"?

My other ? is where can I get a RECOVER program?! I lost some files I'd like to get back if that's possible??!

[netwrkranger]

What program did you use to do the shredding?

I would scour the web for a recovery program. If your machine doesn't boot, you could seek to recover just the OS. If you have you Windows XP book disk, pop that in and follow the directions for repairing the OS.

- netwrkranger

[andrewmitch]

I used the Recovery Disk to reformat. Are those the same as the "Repair" CD's?