How to Erase Internet Tracks
If you’re wondering, “How do I delete history from my internet browsing?” you’re not alone. Deleting web history is a hot topic because not only do the web tracks tell anyone who wants to look where you’ve been, they also compromise your confidential financial information such as credit card numbers and passwords in the form of saved form data and cookies. In addition, marketers can build profiles on you based on cookies left on your system that track your browsing habits. When you remove web history, you are covering your tracks and protecting your privacy.
How to Erase Internet History Manually
Deleting web history using the built-in tools in Internet Explorer is easy. Be forewarned however that you will need to do this frequently in order to best protect your privacy.
- Open Internet Explorer
- Click on the Tools menu
- Choose Internet Options
- Under Browser History (for IE 7 and above) choose Delete and then Delete History. While you’re at it, delete the temporary internet files, form data and cookies.
- Under the temporary internet files choose Delete Files and Delete Cookies.
To delete web history in such a manner only takes a few minutes but it must be done after every internet session in order to provide maximum results.
The Downside to Manually Erasing Internet History
The downside to this technique is that not only must you remember to do it and to do it frequently; it doesn’t permanently erase web history. That’s because of the way Windows deletes files. Windows takes deleted files out of view yet keeps them hidden on the hard drive until something else overwrites them. The problem with this is that anyone with computer data recovery software can find these hidden deleted files and recover them. All of your deleted secrets are easily found by anyone with access to your PC and the right software tools.
Erasing Internet History Permanently
A better way to delete web searches and erase internet history is to use a web eraser tool to erase websites and all tracks of your web browsing activity. An internet eraser automates the deletion of web browser history files and permanently shreds them for good. It will delete web site visits, cookies, history, temporary internet files, downloaded files, web searches, address bar entries and much more in order to restore your privacy and keep your secrets.
A good web eraser is a product like ParetoLogic’s Privacy Controls. This program is not only an excellent history eraser; it also lets you specify files for permanent deletion. This is useful for many reasons. One example is if you are donating or recycling your PC. You will want to shred the entire contents of your hard drive to prevent the data from getting into the wrong hands. Formatting the drive isn’t enough protection because data recovery from a formatted drive is now possible with the right tools.
Running a program such as Privacy Controls is a smart move. Not only does it protect your privacy, it also keeps your PC running more efficiently as an added bonus because it cleans up all the unnecessary files that are cluttering your hard drive. You just need to set it up once and it will run in Stealth mode, secretly cleaning up your web tracks. This internet eraser works in the background so you don’t need to worry about manually clearing your browser history ever again.
