If You Destroy Your Hard Drive, Can People Figure Out What Was On Your Computer

yes I have a question when you have a computer and you save things on it like pictures and things and then when your done with that computer and destroy it so no one wioll get your info and stuff can the ip address be traced to where you saved the pictures or not because I thought once yopu destroyed the hardrive evewuytrhting else is destroyed as well

If you got the material off the internet or by email there is probably a record on a server someplace showing your IP address and what you downloaded or received even after the computer is destroyed.

If you put your own material on your own computer, probably not.

Why is this an issue for you?

Did you download kiddie porn or something?

given the commonality of cloud computing, the computer is only one place the data can be discovered. Additionally, since you were sent a copy of the data and not the actual data, each computer/server it passes through "sees" that data. How long anybody retains said data is up to them. Most of it simply passes through and is not retained but that doesn't mean it can't be retained.



if you have ever heard of carnivore or prism, you would understand that even nuking your computer would not necessarily be a total destruction of the ability to connect any given data to you.


and your IP address is not determined by your HDD/SSD.

and just like your physical mailing address, your IP remains as an address that can be tracked to you, even if you never used a computer again.

Insert head-banging emoticon here.

no kiddie porn was downloaded so please don't start heading down that road
and the thing I am wondering was once something was saved like a image onto your computer like of anything a celebrity or of anything and you delete it and then you destroy the hardrive isn't chances of it being traced or recovered very slim

And does this concern the famous folk your SSI-receiving friend want to hire for a raffle event?

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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no kiddie porn was downloaded so please don't start heading down that road
and the thing I am wondering was once something was saved like a image onto your computer like of anything a celebrity or of anything and you delete it and then you destroy the hardrive isn't chances of it being traced or recovered very slim

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that is a bad position to be operating from. Depending on what the issue is, destroying the HDD/SSD may do nothing more than slowing the investigation.

there is no investigation what are you people talking about I was simply looking for advice I wasn't saying anything was wrong sorry I ever asked

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I am sorry for ever have posted here
I hope everyone here has a very great holiday season and I have no hard feelings for any of the negative comments gave because I respect everyones opinions and I am sorry for have ever posted here as of now I will no longer post here im sorry for have ever joined
I wish you could delete accounts here becfause I would sure delete mine

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and no this doesn't concern any of them

what investigation?

the one that would lead to your data on your HDD/SSD being discovered. If there is no investigation, the question is meaningless as nobody is looking at your HDD/SSD for any particular data and therefor, destroying it would serve no purpose.

dancingwiththestarsfan, we need more information then you provided. Like where did the data on the hard drive COME FROM?

If you create a picture in paint or a program 'like paint' on your hard drive and it NEVER existed in another locations, then dissembled your hard drive, destroying the internal disks, through scratching, melting, cracking, etc., then NO, that data should no be able to be discovered.

IF you downloaded the pictures from your phone through a USB connection between your phone and your computer, then destroyed the internal hard drive disks on the computer AND the phone, through the above methods, you should also be safe.

Although, if those pictures were EVER online, then they can be traced back to you no matter what you do to the hard drive.

well the pictures was online but I don't understand still because they are stored on the hardrive and how can a isp store all the people who save a pocture
like if someone saves a 50 cent picture the rapper they know exactly who saved it

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I wish you could delete accounts here becfause I would sure delete mine

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No one is forcing you to post. Stop posting and delete your bookmark if you're unhappy here.

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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well the pictures was online but I don't understand still because they are stored on the hardrive and how can a isp store all the people who save a pocture
like if someone saves a 50 cent picture the rapper they know exactly who saved it

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let me ask you this:


how do you think the owner of copyrights for any given work contacts some person sitting in front of their computer seeking compensation for illegally downloading the work? It's not that they are actively searching your HDD/SSD.


once the download is initiated, there are traceable records to show who downloaded what, even without accessing your computer and/or its HDD/SSD that your ISP retains.
How long those records are stored is up to the individual server entity.

hello

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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how do you delete your bookmark and what does that mean and nothing was dwonloiaded and who is your server entity
and also the thing is he did a data restore thing and he brought up everything he had ever saved and it showed things he never even saved
so don't you have to click save or what when you save things I mean it brought up pictures of dogs and everything he had no idea he had on his cp so what does save on your computer
just things you click to save or what

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Cookies, everytime your computer goes to a website, it stores a copy of many of the things on that website to help it load quicker if you ever go back to it, this even happens with 'pop up ads'....(This is why i don't like child porn computer cases) Those are those dog's you are seeing.

I'm having trouble understanding what you are writting, but, l'll try to explain the best i can. When your computer connects to a website, there is a certain 'hand shake' that is made, that 'hand shake' leaves a lot of your computer information behind on their server (computer) and a lot of the websites information on your computer, if you download a file, that 'hand shake' now includes more information from your computer just like you have more information from theirs. It's A LOT more complicated then that(there are sometimes hundreds of computers you are 'hand shaking' with for a single website) but that is the very basics.

You CAN'T erase the information on someone elses computer, it doesn't matter if you distroy your hard drive or not.


Now, with all that said, did an Ex get a picture of you and upload it somewhere without your permission? Those types of cases are slightly different and you MAY be able to have the information removed, through court order. If that is the case, we MAY be able to help you here.

hello

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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well I heard before and that's what I told the one I know that it only saves pictures you save and that is the stuff that is sent to isp nothing else but I am confused still

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No, you don't have to save pictures, at all. You are being sent pictures that are being saved to your hard drive RIGHT NOW, everytime you refresh this webpage you get more. Everything goes through the ISP.

2 years ago is a long time, but, it depends on what it was. Child Porn, Murder, Etc., have pretty long Statue of limitations

so what is you alls advice

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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read the last thing I wrote about the 2 years thing that's what he is wondering about mainly

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2 Years, while it maybe a long time to you and I, is not that long when talking about the "Statue of Limitations" of a case, are we talking murder, child abduction, child porn, etc.? I can't tell you if his ISP or other other servers he went through still have the logs from 2 years ago, but i can say it is absolutely possible and IF there was a police investigation 2 years ago, the ISP's and Server's MAY have pulled those logs aside and kept them longer then others, just in case.

A fair assumption is ALWAYS: What goes on the internet, is ALWAYS on the internet.

hello

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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yes but it was a mistake would they honestly waste time digging and digging I mean come on if the hardrive is destroyed what can they don honestuy

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The hard drive has nothing to do with it. You have to get past that, if you throw out the receipt to a pair of earings you bought, to do you believe that is the only evidence of purchase? Once he uploaded/downloaded it from the internet, all the information they will need for a conviction was made available to the servers that he went through to upload/download that image.

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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but wouldn't they have got him by now on it and it was a mistake it wasn't that big of a deal

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We don't know what 'it' was, Photo evidence of him mass murdering children and then cooking them, yes they would bother. A picture of Madonna that he wrote "F- you" on, probly not.

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should he ask a criminal defense attoreney and wqould they know more about it than people on here to ease his worries and his mind maybe

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it wasn't murder or anything like that at all

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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what do u mean upload do you mean save
and his attorney said if the law didn't do anything write close to that time he shopuldnt worry so should he like be in a panic worry

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Just realizing.....How old are you? Please have him talk to an adult, i'm sure it's not as bad as you think. Shouldn't you be in school?

He should speak to his attorney. Not a forum.

he will talk to aattornye aboput this

Is this the source of the recent Boston bomb threats?

but yes he should talk to a ttorney I think in this case

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no disagreeable don't even think that garbage for one second

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he is just going to talk to an attorney to ease his worries
but thanks for everyone who has been kind so much as to give there opinions and advice
but from now on I will no longer post or reply on this board unless I see very necessary too
so thanks and bye bye and thanks for your efforts to help

Is this about the Youtube video for under age kids talking about homosexual sex, or the 16 year old on the dating site(MeetMe) talking to the 22 year old? Because i would bet that BOTH of those servers still have the log files and documentation of those situations. If that 16 year old sent sexual explicit pictures, even in private messages or emails, they are still available to the authorities even if you erased them, if you uploaded a video to youtube, youtube still has that video, even if you deleted it.

(posting history)

No not that at all but I will have him speak to attorney about it ok thanks anyways

It is documentation of his plot to defraud SSI.

what are you talking about disagreeable
no there is no plot to defraud anyone I simply asked questions for the one I know because they wanted to know
nothing has been done and if its against the rules whatsoever it wont be done so there

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he is a very honest person and doesn't defraud people

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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what are you talking about disagreeable
no there is no plot to defraud anyone I simply asked questions for the one I know because they wanted to know
nothing has been done and if its against the rules whatsoever it wont be done so there

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he is a very honest person and doesn't defraud people

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Did you really just say "so there"?!

Tell me I'm seeing things. Please?

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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well the pictures was online but I don't understand still because they are stored on the hardrive and how can a isp store all the people who save a pocture
like if someone saves a 50 cent picture the rapper they know exactly who saved it

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the ISP cannot see the difference between viewing an image and saving it to the PC, both actions are the same network activity the only difference is if the computer loads it into memory to view or writes it out to the hard drive

Face it, he could have said "Liar, Liar, Pants on fire!!!".

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Quoting Dogmatique

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Did you really just say "so there"?!

Tell me I'm seeing things. Please?

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Quoting Disagreeable

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Face it, he could have said "Liar, Liar, Pants on fire!!!".

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I'm not convinced that he didn't - we just might not be aware ;)

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Quoting dancingwiththestarsfan

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yes I have a question when you have a computer and you save things on it like pictures and things and then when your done with that computer and destroy it so no one wioll get your info and stuff can the ip address be traced to where you saved the pictures or not because I thought once yopu destroyed the hardrive evewuytrhting else is destroyed as well

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The guy is asking what happens to stored data on a hard drive that is deleted or destroyed. Not sure where cloud storage came into this discussion. OP, when you delete files off of your computer (which are saved on your local hard drive), you are not actually deleting them. You are "marking them for deletion". This essentially means that the hard drive marks the files you want to delete as no longer being necessary. If and when the time comes that you need that specific space on the hard drive to store additional data, the files you initially deleted will be over-written. If you don't ever need that storage space, than files you had "deleted" will actually still remain on the hard drive.

The are two ways that I know of to erase data. 1) you can over write the data on your hard drive multiple times, to completely cover up what was originally there. I believe DoD standards specific that 7 overwrites are recommended to securely eliminate unwanted data. 2) you can completely destroy the hard drive. And I mean completely. Drill holes thru it, set it on fire, shoot it with big guns, and then bury it somewhere. And even then, the FBI has some pretty killer reconstructive tools to recover data.

is there anyway to delete my posts and my account because I no longer want to be apart or associated with this site anymiore

No, there is not. That was spelled out when you registered.

Once something is online, it is always online.

ok I know I have been posting a lot of things about the one I know and a lot of people on here are saying a lot of negative things about it, and I am here just to clear some things up about some of the postings that have been made.
there is no plan to defraud ssi or social security because every decision that is going to be made as far as giving money to his aunt and her giving him a gift if she chooses to will be asked to ssa when he calls them because nothing is going to be done unless he has there permission because he is a strict person when it comes to rules and that's what he will go by and this will be the last post that will be made under this screename because I think I have said all that needs to be said on this matter