Moving a file to the trash on your PC or Mac gets rid of it for good, right? Not so fast. These files can be seen by others later, and they could be slowing down your machine. Tap or click for my ...

A reader asked me how he might safely donate a computer to a local refurbishing group. "Our son-in-law takes the hard drive out and destroys it with a hammer," he said. "Is that the best way?" Unless ...

This article was taken from the October 2011 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by ...