Undeleting files

[Durandal]

Take security more seriously this time around. Computer security is not a joke. It is a big deal if you give someone else your password. Period.

If you're going to let others use your computer, let them use the guest account.

Minimum wage? Nah, it's the going rate for a computer tech, which is probably at least twice as much.

It's more. Much more. When I did freelance tech work, I charged $20/hour, and that was being generous. You can expect to pay a good tech between $40 and $80 an hour.

The bigger concern here is that he might not have a valid claim if he obtained the material via copyright infringement.

[Executor32]

Given his statement that the roomie did it to save his immortal soul or somesuch, I'm thinking that the files in question were pr0n, rather than anything that would be copyright-infringing.

[Netko]

Porn has copyrights as well you know. And almost everything you can find for free is technically copyright infringement. It's just that porn companies are not so anal ( ) about it unlike the ??AAs.

As far as computer security goes, hell no you shouldn't give access to your primary account to anyone. What if the fundy asshole found your credit card info in your browser cache (in other words he goes to amazon and sees you are a registered user with CC info) and used it to buy "immortal soul"-saving books for you? Or a million other possibilities.

All modern OS-es are multiuser for a reason. Use that functionality (not to mention that you can significantly protect yourself from viruses and crap by giving a imbecile a limited account instead of a regular one).

The OP is a doormat if he's still allowing the guy the use of the computer. It doesn't matter if he has to write his thesis or some such thing, he broke the bond of trust and can now go fuck himself (or more practically, use the University/highschool/public library computer lab).

And who the fuck hides porn on his own computer?

[Uraniun235]

If I had a roommate who pulled that sort of thing, he would not be my roommate any more. How big a step is it really from "oh no he has porn I must delete it to saaave his sooouulll" to "oh no he uses his computer to download that pornography, I'd better chuck that baby out the window!"?

[Admiral Valdemar]

Given his statement that the roomie did it to save his immortal soul or somesuch, I'm thinking that the files in question were pr0n, rather than anything that would be copyright-infringing.

Your deductive skills impress all before you.

Get a separate account. Password that account. Make any and all files on it unreadable to anyone outside the permissions of that account. Now this time, you won't have some eejit fundie "saving your immortal soul" because you're a fan of porn, like any red blooded male.

I know if someone did that to my computer, I'd kick his teeth in, then my own (somehow) for ever being stupid enough to have such a guy as a mate and then leave my PC open to anyone messing with delicate data on it.

As for recovery, there are programs, but they tend to need to be already installed prior to deletion (they act as some sort of emergency cache). Otherwise, it's forensic software and atomic force microscopy. Is your pr0n that worth the cash?

[Durandal]

Given his statement that the roomie did it to save his immortal soul or somesuch, I'm thinking that the files in question were pr0n, rather than anything that would be copyright-infringing.

A lot of the porn you can download is copyrighted and being distributed without the permission of the copyright holder. But the porn industry doesn't particularly care, because they know that any publicity is good publicity. Microsoft pulled the same trick with Windows: let people pirate it, make it popular.

The thing about porn is that there's no wide-spread advertising for the individual studios. So how do they get the word out? Easy. Watermark all of their DVDs and downloadable videos so that when they do get pirated, at least the pirates will know which studio they're getting their porn from. And bingo, free advertising.

[Covenant]

A second logon is essential. I have one, and nobody touches my compy anyway. Have it just on general principles, since if anyone wants to borrow your computer you want to minimize their access to absolutely anything other than, say, microsoft word and the interwebz. If he needs anything more fancy there are computer labs for that. It's good policy to strictly control use of your stuff. You certainly don't want him giving access to someone else, because now you've also lost control of who you can hold accountable for damage.

[Executor32]

Given his statement that the roomie did it to save his immortal soul or somesuch, I'm thinking that the files in question were pr0n, rather than anything that would be copyright-infringing.

A lot of the porn you can download is copyrighted and being distributed without the permission of the copyright holder. But the porn industry doesn't particularly care, because they know that any publicity is good publicity. Microsoft pulled the same trick with Windows: let people pirate it, make it popular.

The thing about porn is that there's no wide-spread advertising for the individual studios. So how do they get the word out? Easy. Watermark all of their DVDs and downloadable videos so that when they do get pirated, at least the pirates will know which studio they're getting their porn from. And bingo, free advertising.

Ah, I see. That explains a lot, like why I see bangbros network shit everywhere I go looking for porn.

AV: I realize I was stating the obvious, but I was clarifying for Durandal because I thought he was referring to warez. As you can see above, I was mistaken and I even learned something new about the porn industry.

Regarding the OP: I rarely let anyone use my computer, and when I do I have them use the "Other People" account I've set up, which I've made incapable of doing much of anything other than what I place on the desktop. Also, I have all my porn in a folder on my second hard drive, for which the "Other People" account doesn't have permissions.