It depends. If it is a Windows operating systems like XP, then the cache or temp folder will most likely be associated with a particular user profile. And as I said in another post, it is a fairly straight-forward process to determine when the files were saved to the hard drive and to determine if and when a particualr user has viewed them.
That's a point.
The prosecution would still have to show it wasn't related to a rootkit or spam for me to start overcoming reasonable doubt, though. I'd be thinking of that teacher up in New England.
After the Geek Squad kid copied them off for his own secret stash and messed up all the timestamps there ought to be enough reasonable doubt to drive a truck through. You don't get a good chain of custody at $8 an hour (or whatever they pay).
what about financial info and other info that is saved on my computer. I've got a file with passwords and account numbers on it. I've also got tax and income records on my laptop as well as my "regular computer".
How do I keep those out of the hands of repair guys that are helping me with my computer?
I've got a Wintel and a new MacBook pro. Each has a "secure" empty trash, does that "wipe" the excel spreadsheats, word perfect and tax software info off the hard drive so nobody can find the stuff?