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Personal Tech

Solutions: Defrag isn't a security solution

Q. You have written about deleting files so they cannot be recovered, for security reasons. Would not running a defrag utility, included in all the operating systems I have used, have the same effect? It is my understanding that with defrag, the computer writes and rewrites over all sectors while it is condensing the disk. So would this not work as well as a file shredder program?

By John Torro, Times Correspondent
Published February 18, 2008

Q. You have written about deleting files so they cannot be recovered, for security reasons. Would not running a defrag utility, included in all the operating systems I have used, have the same effect? It is my understanding that with defrag, the computer writes and rewrites over all sectors while it is condensing the disk. So would this not work as well as a file shredder program?

A. No. Defragmentation will just move the noncontiguous sectors of a file to a location that has contiguous sectors. It will then change the master file table to point to the old sectors as "free" space, ready to be used again even though the old data is there. It does not overwrite that area until a new request is made for disk space.

Q. I have a new computer with Vista. I sometimes get e-mails that have PowerPoint presentations attached. When I try to open them I get this error message: "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Set Associations control panel." I cannot find Set Associations in the Control Panel. I contacted HP but the instructions they sent me do not match what comes up on Vista.

A. What you need is the Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer. It is software that allows you to view PowerPoint files even if you don't have the full-blown Office suite. Go to www.microsoft.com/downloads and type "PowerPoint Viewer" in the search box, then click Go. You'll get a list that will include the 2007 PowerPoint Viewer download link. Click on it and follow the directions for installation. Regarding the Set Associations problem which the PowerPoint Viewer installation will fix for you, here is how it's done for future reference: Open the folder that contains the file you want to change. Right-click the file that you want to change and click "Open With." This will open the "Open With" dialog window. Click the program that you want to use to open this file, or click the Browse button and navigate to the executable program that should be used. If you want all files of that type to open in the same software program, select the "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" check box, and then click OK.

Q. I am running Windows Vista on an HP Pavilion desktop. At every startup, there is a popup window for "NVIDIA" drivers, insisting that I install the new drivers. Apparently I don't need them since the system works just fine. The problem is I can't get the popup to go away. There are three choices in the window: Install, Ask Later and Don't Ask Again. I repeatedly click on "Don't Ask Again," which causes the Windows Permissions window to come up asking if I want to continue. I have to click cancel to make the window go away. I have tried to stop the the program from starting in msconfig/startup but it remains checked to run at startup.

A. Just click Continue in the User Account Control (Permissions window) popup instead of Cancel.

Clarification

While a scheduled check for Windows Update will not occur while a computer is in Sleep/Standby mode, the check is deferred to when the computer is brought to awake mode. This wasn't clear in an item Feb. 11.

Send questions to personaltech@sptimes.com or Personal Tech, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Questions are answered only in this column.

[Last modified February 20, 2008, 13:28:27]