How to erase all Ethereum files from PC

Question

I'm using the Ethereum Mist wallet on my desktop, but after transferring everything to a new computer I'd like to remove all traces of Ethereum from the old desktop.

What files/folders would I need to remove?

If I'm correct the wallet is not really software like all my other programs. Meaning I don't have to uninstall the program. Just deleting the shortcut and the '78.5 MBMist-win64-0-8-7.exe' file would suffice. I believe there's not a single file in the 'My programs' folder

Next to that I have to delete the 'Ethereum' and 'Ethereum wallet' folder in my 'Appdata' folder. Thereby deleting among other things the entire blockchain (which frees up a lot of hd space again) and, most importantly, the 'keystore' folder.

If I'm not mistaken that's it. Or am I forgetting something?

PS Of course I will make sure all files are properly removed and not just placed in the bin - even though they are nearly empty now.

Answer 1

what you did by removing the Ethereum folder is correct.

Mist data is located under

Windows %APPDATA%\Mist

and Mist is normally installed in the %APPDATA%/local/mist folder. so delete also these folders.

Answer 2

On Ubuntu, first, clean the packages:

 sudo apt-get remove ethereumwallet 

Then:

rm -rf ~/.config/Ethereum\ Wallet/
rm -rf ~/.config/Mist
rm -rf ~/.ethereum/geth
sudo rm -rf /opt/Ethereum\ Wallet
sudo rm -rf /opt/Mist
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/ethereumwallet
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/mist

Warning: before execute following command be sure you don't have any assets associated with Ethereum or have keystore backup!

rm -rf .ethereum/keystore

Answer 3

It sounds like you are using Windows. I'm assuming you want to protect your keys when you dispose of the disk. Note that deleting the files does not destroy the data on disk -- it merely removes references to the data from the file table. The data can be recovered by data recovery software. You should use a tool like this: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/sdelete.aspx to delete your files. Since I'm late to the party, you will also need to write into the "empty" space on your disk using the "clean free space" option. Further note that on an SSD, using secure delete software like this does not guarantee your data is actually removed. It is up to the disk's controller to map logical blocks on disk to physical blocks. As such, writing to the same disk location repeatedly with an SSD does not guarantee the originally written data is erased. You will need to use a utility geared towards SSDs to erase all the data.

If your data was encrypted with a strong password, recovery of your keys by a third party is less of a concern (e.g., if you sell the disk or toss it into the trash). If all else fails, physical destruction of the disk is an option.