How to wreck XP very quickly ?

[MrsGoof]

I know the tech colleagues would probably have a nose around for their own satisfaction.

in that case give them something to find

[Ardesco]

in that case give them something to find

nekkid photos usually get the best response....

[meridian]

I don't see that you have much choice.
If it's not dodgy but may be slightly cringing (desktop wallpaper of the Hoff, couple of Shania Twain mp3s) then you're better off just deleting it, defragging, and forgetting it.
If you wipe the entire installation you might be opening yourself up to further action (e.g. they hire an expensive contractor to restore the company property that you've destroyed and they charge you for it).

[BoredBloke]

Or take the simple approach of removing the hard disk and damaging it and logging a hardware fault. They will then replace the hd for you.

[Joe Black]

...and hope it's not one of those (HP?) PCs which log the fact that the case was opened.

Alternatively, use PGP and store things in a directory marked 'Temp'.

Dont keep it on there in the first place is the first thought though. I currently use an iPod or PDA with a big SD card for such things.

Seconded.

While it may not help your current position, certainly the best option is simply not have anything there to worry about removing in the first place.

The few items I do temporarily store on a work PC (short-cuts etc) I still never save in anything but a desktop folder named 'remove me'.

Yep, occasionally people notice the name and ask what's it for, but yeah "I may be paranoid, but it doesn't mean they're not out to get me"

[Angela_D]

If you wipe the entire installation you might be opening yourself up to further action (e.g. they hire an expensive contractor to restore the company property that you've destroyed and they charge you for it).

Really ? I've never worked at a place that could be so anal. We're talking about a standard RIS Windows image with a few sms packages that have been deployed to it. It could be rebuilt in 25 minutes, like new with just a few key strokes involved. No company data on board.

If somebody took "company property that you've destroyed" to the legal limits: would that include deleting an empty, pointless .txt file you may have made earlier ? It was made on company time and is owned by the company. If you hit delete ???? are you potentially on thin ice ?

Any (legal) brains here ?

[Angela_D]

While it may not help your current position, certainly the best option is simply not have anything there to worry about removing in the first place.

The few items I do temporarily store on a work PC (short-cuts etc) I still never save in anything but a desktop folder named 'remove me'.

Maybe its just the (several) places I've worked on site but I can't believe you've never received /sent an email that was less than 110% pure-business related ?

I've received 000s of emails from perms slagging off other perms in the same room when the slaggee was talking horsesh!t.

People talking about tax stuff, rates, intimate messages. Personal holiday, night out Photos stored in d:
drives or home directories. About 90GB of music (okay, that one is just me).

Are you fellas for real ? Every singles byte of data you touch in your contract is all client business ?

Maybe I've just been lucky .... or you need to get out more.

A.

[MarillionFan]

Angela.

You are an idiot. Just delete the files you are concerned about. Go back to being a PA & f-ck off.

Now V.Boring if not Trollish. YAWN.

[Cowboy Bob]

Are you fellas for real ? Every singles byte of data you touch in your contract is all client business ?

I'm for real.

No personal e-mails to/from client e-mail. I have GMail for that.
No music on client PC. I have an iPod for that.
No personal documents on client PC. Do all that at home/on laptop.

It's called professionalism. The client has provided you a machine for you to perform a service with. It is not your personal property. You shouldn't treat it as such.

[Joe Black]

Maybe its just the (several) places I've worked on site but I can't believe you've never received /sent an email that was less than 110% pure-business related ?

I've received 000s of emails from perms slagging off other perms in the same room when the slaggee was talking horsesh!t.

People talking about tax stuff, rates, intimate messages. Personal holiday, night out Photos stored in d:
drives or home directories. About 90GB of music (okay, that one is just me).

Are you fellas for real ? Every singles byte of data you touch in your contract is all client business ?

Maybe I've just been lucky .... or you need to get out more.

A.

Well, so far as emails go, if you're concerned about whats been sent between you and other co-workers then you can't really do anything anyway as any number of people can still have a copy.

As for external/personal mails from outside the company, photos/music, anything else you might want/need to access from your PC at some point, then yes you can to a reasonable extent ensure that all of it is gone even if the security people come up to your desk and march you there and then out the door.