[zytec]

To cut a long story as short as possible:-

Due to an upgrade I want to use a PC that has had office accounts and other sensitive material on, as an open use internet PC in the main office area.

Now obviously I will transfer all the sensitive data, then delete it completley, (not leave it in the recycle bin). I know I could simply replace the HDD and reinstall the operating system, but there's some software on it that I no longer have disks for, especially an old still functioning, (no longer available), touch screen system. as such i'd rather avoid the headaches getting it all working again might cause me.

What I'd rather do is remove and delete all the account files etc, then ghost the o/s to another, (smaller), new drive.

My question:- (finally), I've noticed with ghost, (2003 version), when you ghost to a file it only makes the file the size of the current data used. So for example if It were a 10 gig hdd and 5 were used the file would be 5gigs or smaller when the data is compressed into a ghost image. As such will this be a safe way to ensure the removed / deleted data before ghosting, ( ie the accounts etc), can't be recovered from the later re-ghosted image by anyone?

I'd assume it would, because the data that has been removed / deleted won't be read by the ghosting process so wouldn't be transferred and therefore couldn't be recoverable by anyone. Does anyone know this for sure or are there any other precautions I'd need to take?

[Myke]

Honestly, Norton Ghost is absolutely horrible. I spent a good week on a project trying to ghost a corrupt laptop HD to a new one, but to no avail. What I ended up using was Acronis' MigrateEasy. The program litterally works in 1/4 of the time than Norton Ghost, not to mention the fact that it's so much easier to use. The directions on the GUI are amazingly straight forward. The best feature of MigrateEasy is that it runs outside of Windows, whereas Ghost operates within Windows.

Honestly, you should check this handy software out. It is available for a free trial at http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/, located at the bottom of the page (on the right). This program completely got rid of my headache with the project. Best of luck to you.

[fpin]

[thatsteveguy]

If you are concerned about some data being ghosted and recovered what I would suggest is you get a Wiping/Erase program. Use the Erase feature to delete what you want(the erase feature should overwrite those areas) then defrag and use the program to Wipe your free space then Ghost your image.
S