What is it about these pop-ups and e-mails that I receive sometimes stating that everything I do and view is logged and is permanently stored on my computers database for someone to view? Is that really true or is it that they are trying to get you to buy their product to remove this "evidence", that's what they call it. I received an e-mail today about a program called Evidence Eliminator that supposedly deletes all of the logs from your computer. Thanks in adance.

There is an element of truth in what they say but I would ignore any unsolicited E-mail you get concerning security. They are almost certainly trying to sell you something that they cannot sell by normal advertising without resorting to Spam and scaring the unwary. One common scam is to display a load of your personal information on your screen to frighten you into believing that they have access to your files. The fact that they have displayed your information on your screen doesnt necesserily mean that they can do the same on their screen. If you are really paranoid about leaving stuff behind get a copy of Cash, Cookie & Window cleaner. That does a pretty good job of covering up your tracks. http://www.moleculesoft.com/ These evidence eliminators are only of any real use if you are using your employers computer to browse some dubious internet site and dont want them to know where you have been. Some of the stuff that is saved on your computer is actually useful. Stuart

It's more or less true. C:\windows\applog creates "records" of app's/programs you run so when you defrag these can be re-arranged on your drive for faster access. History files and cookies are stored for the same reason. Some of these can be removed while windows is running, some cannot because windows thinks you shouldn't. So, people "write" programs to get rid of these so you can rest your "guilty conscieous(sp?)". If you want to get rid of this, copy the following into notepad and save it as PURGE.BAT; @echo off cls echo. echo. echo WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! echo. echo This batch file must run from the RAW DOS COMMAND PROMPT ONLY! echo. echo NOT from a DOS WINDOW while WINDOWS IS RUNNING! echo. echo. echo You can choose to clear unnecessary files from your Temp, History, echo Cookies, Recent, Temporary Internet Files, Applog sub-directories, echo or all. echo. echo If Clear All Files and Directories is chosen, it will also clear; echo C:\perform.log, *.syd, *.b~k, *.---, and *.pss files from your echo C:\ and C:\Windows directories, as well as C:\windows\Downloaded echo Program Files, and the swapfile. echo. echo Press Ctrl+C to terminate this process. . . echo. echo OR, echo. echo press Enter and choose which files to clear. echo. pause :: path=%PATH%;%winbootdir%\command\ lh %winbootdir%\SMARTDRV 4096 16 >nul :: cls echo. echo. echo A Clear All Files and Directories echo B Clear Temporary Internet Files Only echo C Clear History Folder Only echo D Clear Temporary Folder Only echo E Clear Applog Folder Only choice /c:abcde Choose an Option if errorlevel 5 goto applog-only if errorlevel 4 goto temp-only if errorlevel 3 goto history-only if errorlevel 2 goto temp-internet if errorlevel 1 goto all-files :: :all-files %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\temp %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\recent %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\tempor~1 %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\locals~1\tempor~1 %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\cookies %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\history %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\applog %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\downlo~1 :: if EXIST c:\win386.swp del c:\win386.swp if EXIST d:\win386.swp del d:\win386.swp if EXIST e:\win386.swp del e:\win386.swp if EXIST f:\win386.swp del f:\win386.swp if EXIST g:\win386.swp del g:\win386.swp if EXIST h:\win386.swp del h:\win386.swp :: if EXIST c:\perform.log del c:\perform.log if EXIST c:\*.syd del c:\*.syd if EXIST c:\*.b~k del c:\*.b~k if EXIST c:\*.--- del c:\*.--- if EXIST %winbootdir%\*.syd del %winbootdir%\*.syd if EXIST %winbootdir%\*.b~k del %winbootdir%\*.b~k if EXIST %winbootdir%\*.--- del %winbootdir%\*.--- if EXIST %winbootdir%\*.pss del %winbootdir%\*.pss if EXIST D:\toolscd\regist~1\regclean\undo*.reg del D:\toolscd\regist~1\regclean\undo*.reg goto exit :: :applog-only %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\applog goto exit :: :temp-only %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\temp goto exit :: :history-only %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\history goto exit :: :temp-internet %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\tempor~1 %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\locals~1\tempor~1 %winbootdir%\command\deltree/y %winbootdir%\cookies goto exit :: :exit echo File Deletion Is Complete exit This has to be run while in RAW DOS. When you boot, hold down Ctrl or F8 and choose Command Prompt Only, then at the C:\> prompt, type in; purge. (Place the file either in the root directory of C: or somewhere in your path which is defined in autoexec.bat (if you have one.) This will work on 98, 98SE, I think on 95. You didn't provide your O/S in your post heading, so I don't know.

Hi Thomas, Stuart, Dan, hello everyone, Very nice Dan! I just checked it out and it worked nicely. Best Regards and Wishes to All, Mesich

Sorry for not providing the OS. I primarily wanted general knowledge behind this. My OS, however, is WinXP Tablet Edition. Thanks for all the help, however.

Thanks Mesich. I wrote that about four years ago and have tweaked it along the way. The one I actually use has no choices in it, it just goes and aggressively does it, as ~I~ know what ~I~ want deleted. When I started seeing related topics in this forum, I posted it with the choices in case someone else only wanted certain things deleted. Then I added the %winbootdir% in case someone installed windows into another directory. Renaissance Man saw it and sent me a version which he tweaked as well. His was much more elaborate, more than I needed, but a good job. If you're interested in his version of my original, I can send it or post it. I think I still have an email address for you. Actually, I don't. (I just checked.) I was on AOL back then when we had a couple of commo's. In any case, if you're interested, let me know. Dan

Hi Dan, hello everyone, I like you know what I would like deleted and would manipulate the batch file accordingly but very nice to have the options. I know several others that would like this. RM's latest version, I forget the version number is actully at Burzurq.com. SMUOD was kind enough to place it there for him. Drop me an email though as I no longer have yours either. :-( I posted it in this thread. Best wishes, Mesich