How to Clean my hard drive?

Question

I am trying to clean up my hard drive by deleting files. But after I "take out" a huge amount and "Empty Recycle Bin", It doesn't seem to clear up space. I have used the built in utility of Disk Cleanup (found in one of your Newsletter/Columns) and have been able to clean up some more. I seem to have read somewhere where deleting files really doesn't remove all the information of a file. Is this right? Do I have a bunch of "Deleted Files" still on my hard drive. If so, how do I remove this unwanted stuff to free up my hard drive.

I have read about your recommendation called "Eraser" but I don't know all the file names that I have erased.

Thanks for your help.

Todd

Answer

This question was answered on December 22, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

The first thing I would suggest that you do is update the anti-virus program and then run a virus scan. If you do not have one instaled, go to: http://sarc.com/ Scroll down and click on,"Free Online Virus and Security Check" Write down exactly anything it finds, then return to: http://sarc.com/ and do a search for what was found. Symantec usually has a removal tool and/or directions for manually removing.

Check out the following site regarding Disk Clean Up:

Author

Posted by Kareem of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on December 22, 2004