A computer cleaner erases records of a user’s online and offline activities to maintain privacy. Records are found in various places on a computer, including recently opened files, browser cache, and cookies. A good computer cleaner should be easily configurable and able to delete the index.dat file. However, it’s not a forensic tool and may not delete all traces of activity.
While using a computer, various records are accumulated which reveal a user’s online and offline activities. A later party can access these records to snoop on the previous user’s actions and may even be able to obtain personal information. A computer cleaner is a utility that erases these records to maintain privacy.
The number and type of records generated while using a computer are many and varied, found in many different places on the computer. For example, many software programs keep a list of recently opened files and documents or recently viewed images or movies. Run and Find histories are also logged. Temporary files store copies of documents that could persist for months or even years if not deleted.
Online activities also leave footprints. A web browser reserves allocated memory on the hard drive as a cache or a place where it can keep copies of recently viewed web pages so that these pages can load faster on subsequent visits. Browser cache is a rich source of information about previous browsing sessions.
The handy autocomplete or autofill feature scans records of previously typed words to predict input based on the first few lines entered. This feature can inadvertently reveal previous searches and websites you’ve visited, even if your browser’s cache has been cleared. A public computer may “leak” personal information such as your name and address if a previous user filled out a form providing this information.
The curious cannot read your computer’s cookies because the contents are encrypted, but they can see which websites have issued the cookies, inadvertently revealing your browsing habits to any potential busybody. A computer cleaner takes care of this by deleting the cookies.
Windows Internet Explorer uses a file called index.dat, which stores information about the websites visited and maintains an index of the cookies received. Even if you use your browser’s built-in privacy features to clear your history, cookies, and cache, your index.dat file will remain intact. Only a full computer cleaner will delete the index.dat file. Explorer creates a new, ’empty’ one at the next session.
A good computer cleaner will fix all of these problems and more, and should be easily configurable to optionally preserve some files such as useful cookies. Running the utility from a USB memory stick or flash drive will allow you to wipe fingerprints from a public computer or workstation without installing the software.
While a computer cleaner does a good job of protecting privacy at a basic level, it’s not a forensic tool. Windows operating systems lock down a portion of the hard drive for use as a designated swap or page file, for example. This file contains a large amount of unorganized (and therefore seemingly chaotic) data that nevertheless provides usage logs. Easily available tools allow anyone to view content.
You can set Windows or a computer cleaning program to clear the paging file on shutdown, but this usually delays the shutdown process by a few minutes or more. Also, shutting down a public or work computer may not be practical. There may also be more obscure traces of activity left untouched by a computer cleaner that probably wouldn’t be found by the casual snooper, but could be recovered by law enforcement or administrators.
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