I wanna get my laptop fixed, but im afraid the computer tech guy is going to look through my stuff. I have online banking info, personal pictures of me and my gf, porn and a bunch of other stuff stored on there. How can I be sure that no one will look through my harddrive while my laptop’s getting fixed?
Go to a reputable shop. You don’t need to worry too much unless you have child porn in your computer. Besides, they don’t have business in snooping around your hard drive’s contents. It will hurt their reputation and business if people would know what they do. In your situation, if you think your sensitive data are at risk then take out your hard disk and use an external hard disk enclosure. Attach it to another computer and MOVE (not just copy) your data there. After that, use a program that will securely wipe the free space in your laptop’s hard drive so they can’t be recovered. Here’s a good program:
http://www.glaryutilities.com/gu.html
Remember, simply erasing your sensitive data may not be enough as the tech people can use undelete programs to recover them.