alan said:
Hi, After deleting, and then emptying the *trash,* are emails still on the
hard drive somewhere? Hidden? The emails were not saved in any way. And if
they are still on the computer somewhere, how would one go about cleaning
everything up? Thanks
Never assume "deleted" data on a computer promptly become irrevocably
unavailable to someone with the right utility. It may help SOME if the
other people only have access to user accounts with limited privileges.
Under some circumstances your email provider might be able to recover
"deleted" messages from their server too, especially if given strong
motivation like a court subpoena or a request from a government law
enforcement agency.
It will be hard for people to offer detailed advice without knowing
which mail client you are using. Many email clients don't store each
message in a separate file, so the Windows "trash" isn't rally relevant.
If your client has a procedure to "compress" or "clean up" its database
of messages there MAY be less chance of someone recovering the "deleted"
messages after that procedure. With web based email it may help to
delete the browsers temporary Internet files (sometimes called a
"cache") AND defrag the hard drive.
As always it would be wise to scan for spyware like key loggers and
stealth programs that might occasionally capture screen images.
