How do u make sure the person working on your PC can't access ur files

kuurt said:

How would you lose your c drive - it's built into the computer? I suppose you could have a hard drive failure, but I do occasionally back up my files to a zip drive. I just don't like the idea of having my files stored in only one place. I don't have linux on my computer, I just have Windows 7, so I don't know how they could boot linux.

Any drive is subject to failure, including the C: drive that's built into your computer, external drives, zip drives, thumb drives, etc.. In fact, given enough time, all drives will eventually fail, some sooner than others (I've seen new drives arrive DOA). Also, files can become corrupted and fail to work properly, if at all.

The separate data drives we were referring to would also be "built into" (in other words, installed inside) your computer. Computers can have more than one drive installed. Even many laptops can have two drives installed.

Someone can access the data on your computer without a password by using a copy of Linux installed on a CD, DVD, or thumb drive. Linux, or even another OS, for that matter, doesn't have to be installed on your computer to be able to run as long as the media (CD, DVD, thumb drive) is connected to the computer.

You are not the only one who doesn't like to have files stored in more than one place (heck, I'm positively paranoid that way!). For data to be reasonably safe, it must exist in at least three places, most typically on the computer, on an onsite backup drive, and on an offsite backup drive. Even only one backup is better than none. By occasionally backing up your files to a zip drive, you are already doing better than most people, who don't do any backups at all. Yu should consider more frequent backups, though. Any data added or changed on your computer after your last backup would be lost if your computer should die.

Kuurt,
Are you serious....still using a ZIP drive? I've not even seen one of those in over a decade.

Today, high capacity Flash Drives or Terrabyte External USB drives are the preferred media for all your backups.

OK, a little bit of info for you.... First if you don't trust a particular PC Service center, then don't take your PC there. A really good PC service center should be Certified and Bonded. But, you can't hide anything on a hard drive, except for High Security Encryption.

I'm a Computer Tech myself, and I never ask a customer for their password, if they were not smart enough to give it to me in the first place. There are so many ways for a technician to get past a password, it's not even funny. I can get into any running computer, in less than five minutes, passwords not withstanding.

If you have highly personal data, pictures, etc. on your hard drive that you don't want anyone to see, then copy them all to an external drive, and then delete them off of your hard drive.
OR, just don't save them to the hard drive in the first place. Only save them to an external drive, that you can unplug from a USB port for safety. And if your data files are that critical to you, multiple backup drives would be in order. I have my own data files backed up to four different drives, and I update them all at least once a week.

Good luck!
TechnoMage

kuurt said:

How would you lose your c drive - it's built into the computer? I suppose you could have a hard drive failure, but I do occasionally back up my files to a zip drive. I just don't like the idea of having my files stored in only one place. I don't have linux on my computer, I just have Windows 7, so I don't know how they could boot linux.

A really easy way to backup you files is with Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free It can automatically backup your files on a schedule to an internal or external drive. If you need to restore you files it only takes a few minutes. Check out the link.

TechnoMage2016 said:

...I have my own data files backed up to four different drives, and I update them all at least once a week...

I'm so glad I'm not the only anal one here!

To put it simple.

Put your data on a external drive.
Remove the data from the "C" partition after verifying the data is safe on the external drive.
Remove the external drive from the computer.

At this point you have the external drive and the repair shop has your computer.

The repair shop can't see things that aren't there. No encryption or passwords needed.

**If one has a bag full of money in the trunk of their car, they would remove it before taking the car to the repair shop. Same thing with removing the external drive from your computer before taking the computer to a repair shop.

Jack