How to remove traces of activity on the computer

User actions on a computer are recorded in the operating system. The following information is saved:

• Details of search queries entered by users and websites visited
• Information about started applications, as well as opened and saved files
• Microsoft Windows event log entries
• Other information about user activity

Intruders and unauthorized persons may be able to gain access to confidential data contained in information on past user actions.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus includes the Privacy Cleaner Wizard, which cleans up traces of user activity in the operating system.

To run the Privacy Cleaner Wizard:

1. Open the main application window.
2. In the More Tools drop-down list, select Privacy Cleaner to run the Privacy Cleaner Wizard.

The Wizard consists of a series of pages (steps), which you can navigate through by clicking the Back and Next buttons. To close the Wizard after it finishes, click the Done button. To stop the Wizard at any stage, click the Cancel button.

Let us review the steps of the Wizard in more detail.

Starting the Wizard

1. Select one of the two options for Wizard operation:
   • Search for user activity traces. The Wizard will search for traces of your activities on the computer.
   • Roll back changes. The Wizard will roll back the changes that were previously made by the Privacy Cleaner Wizard. This option is available if activity traces have been removed by the Wizard before.
2. Click the Next button to start the Wizard.

Activity traces search

If you selected the Search for user activity traces option, the Wizard performs a search for activity traces on your computer. The search may take a while. When the search is complete, the Wizard proceeds automatically to the next step.

Selecting Privacy Cleaner actions

When the search is complete, the wizard informs you about the detected activity traces and asks about the actions to take for elimination of these activity traces.

The list contains three groups of actions for removing traces of your activity in the operating system:

• Strongly recommended actions eliminate activity traces posing a serious security threat.
• Recommended actions are intended for elimination of activity traces that pose a potential threat.
• Additional actions eliminate activity traces that are not dangerous.

If the check box in the line of an action is selected, Kaspersky Anti-Virus performs the action.

If this check box is cleared in the line of an action, Kaspersky Anti-Virus does not perform the action.

If you selected Roll back changes during the first step, the list contains previously performed actions that you can roll back.

To view actions that have been included into a group, expand the list of the selected group.

To make the Wizard perform a certain action, to the left of an action, select the corresponding check box. By default, the Wizard performs all recommended and strongly recommended actions. If you do not want to perform a certain action, clear the check box next to it.

It is strongly recommended that you not clear the check boxes selected by default, as doing so will leave your computer vulnerable to threats.

After you define the set of actions for the Wizard to perform, click the Next button.

Privacy Cleaner

The Wizard performs the actions selected during the previous step. Elimination of activity traces may take some time. To clean up certain activity traces, it may be necessary to restart the computer; if so, the Wizard notifies you.

When the clean-up is complete, the Wizard proceeds automatically to the next step.

Wizard completion

Click the Done button to exit the Wizard.