How to hide personal docs when pc in repair shop?

[tan8856]

Hi
I got a new hard drive for my pc 6 months ago and ive been having minor issues with it since so the repair guy has said to bring it back to the shop and he'll take a look. He may well end up installing a more current version of windows 10.
How can I hide or password protect my folders? I dont want him seeing my personal documents. Whats the best way to go about this? Bear in mind he may reinstall windows.
Thanks

 

[Alec_t]

You could zip them up and password-protect the zip folder.
Or you could download them to a memory stick.

 

[Astra99]

If there is any likelihood of Windows being reinstalled, back up ALL your data files to a USB stick or sticks, and ensure you have the installation media for all your applications (and their licence keys). To reinstall Windows without formatting the partition is a bit like putting on a clean shirt without washing your neck!

 

[Doggit]

He shouldn't need to install a more recent version of Windows 10, only if you've got an earlier version - Windows update should be doing a continual check for recent updates. It may be that he'll need to check for any new drivers, but that wouldn't affect much. It's possible that there's a problem with the hard drive, and he should therefore copy everything over to the new drive, but if you want to protect your data, then look for a zip program with a password (I'll try to find something later). If you copy them to a USB stick, then you'll need a wipe program to overwrite the data, otherwise they could be recovered with a recovery program.

How did you handle things last time, or are there more sensitive files now.

 

[mattylad]

If you are trying to hide your huge collection of porn then I'd suggest doing it on an external hard drive, shift delete all copies on your internal drive and use something like dban\blannco (dban.org) to securly erase the remaining folders.
Don't forget to empty your recycling bin before erasing.

 

[ericmark]

I use two external hard drives, any important docs are always put on both drives. I have in the past when windows failed booted from Linux disks, I was surprised to find all my so called password protected files were open for all to see. So best not to have them on the PC to start with.

If you try to protect any files from prying eyes, it makes people want to read them, and also means harder to blame other users of the computer, I felt after Garry Glitter that sending a computer to PC world is clearly not recommended, OK in his case they uncovered some thing which needed stopping, but it still raises question what were they doing looking at them in the first place?

Once you get to point where computer needs sending for repair then likely too late, my laptop has three drives, two solid state and a mechanical, if you put all documents on the mechanical you can swap it before sending computer for repair, however if you can swap a drive, do you really need to send computer for repair?