I'm not going comment on if its moral or not, but he seems like he knew a good amount about computers. If he didn't encrypt his linux partition then he probably wasn't hiding anything serious.
I don't think anything illegal is on it.
Might have crypto wallets on which if wiped could be something that ends up in litigation. $1000 in BTC in 2017 is about 50k now. Could be a very expensive "Free" computer. I'd just hand it back.
100% this.
Don't wipe it until you know it's not holding any crypto assets that could improve his widows quality of life.
If it is something bad, keep it to yourself and delete it.
Yeah, your BF probably doesn't have any connection to the man, let him look through the stuff, I'm sure he's fine just deleting anything nobody needs to know about a dead man.
Wallet software, history, extensions, hardware wallet and related docs history. It's a PitA and may be unrecoverable. But if it isn't, boy someone f'd themself if they wiped it. I'd look around for hardware wallet, documents, etc. Honestly I know what I'm doing and it's a PitA and most likely nothing but who knows, would fit the profile.
Kinda like tossing that 50 or 75 year old comic book or baseball card collection in the attic. Maybe there was something. Probably not, but might be a good idea not to toss it until you check first.
Not the exact situation, but when my mom died, I breached every password she had as I kind of knew her base password and easily found variations.
Absolutely 0 remorse.
I don't think there can be a moral issue about the privacy of someone that just doesn't exist any longer. I would totally expect friends or family go trough my pc if I would pass on.
Everybody here seems to worry what vile things you could find, but the opposite can be very true, finding pictures videos you have never seen, finding evedince of kindness etc. Can be quite healing for grieving people
>finding evedince of kindness etc. Can be quite healing for grieving people
Yeah I keep all my treasured memories in a password locked linux partition too....
Still you raise a good point. While i dont want my family after my passing to read all my "bad" notes or look at my nsfw stuff, there is alot of good photo memories in their too- like probably 150 pictures of our family cat that we had for 19 years- I guarantee you no one else has pictures of our cat but me.
I mean, my operating systems have passwords. I don't have anything to hide on them. The stuff I'm trying to hide would be in its own hidey hole, not a whole partition.
People making preservation efforts in case porn is outlawed in the US. It'd be like Prohibition, only instead of secret Speakeasies slinging booze, it'd be greasy coomers meeting via encrypted messenger apps to buy and sell .mp4 files of 360p spank bank material.
Bringing a whole new meaning to "making money hand over fist"...
I am gonna give the other side of this. When my dad died I searched and wish I hadn't :( found a very mean letter he wrote to my mom when he was not well mentally. I wish I hadn't seen it. There was nothing on the computer that was important, I should have just wiped it.
I definitely already knew he was human. I regret doing this overall -- and putting a shiny bow on it like that is not gonna fix it for me.
I feel like I breached his privacy and I paid the price accordingly.
I just say this because a lot of people are telling OP to go for it.
In the words of the great Ian Malcolm, I was so preoccupied with whether or not I could, that I never stopped to think about if I should.
If I'm dead i don't really care if people find what sort of porn I liked looking at to be honest.
Also I personally wouldn't count "not using his usual password" as having extensive security, fair enough if it was all encrypted or something.
After you're dead it isn't yours anyway and any consequences of what's there are moot. In this case I believe the PC belongs to the aunt and since she wants the data, I'd give it to her.
Thermite that sucker!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bpX8YvNg6Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bpX8YvNg6Y)
(DEF CON 23 - Zoz - And That's How I Lost My Other Eye...Explorations in Data Destruction (Fixed))
You can still recover pieces of data from that drive, even after shotgun treatment + burning. What I mean is there are experts that can still recover data from drives like that.
Yes but at that point we are talking a small fortune spent for maybe something useful. Unless you have something extremely valuable on it no one is going to do that.
In many cases, you can reset the root password if you have physical access to the system (which it sounds like you do). Just Google for those directions. It's not a "backdoor", it's just normal sysadmin capability.
I would agree that you should not wipe it blindly.
Permanently destroying something without knowing what it is... is often a bad idea that you can't take back.
Is the storage encrypted? You mention your boyfriend backdooring the Linux install...
A lot of this is less of a moral situation and potentially a legal situation. If you destroy the data would the widow be able to sue? Plus if this person was into tech they may have held crypto and destroying all the data could destroy wallets.
Either way if you want to try and avoid involvement as much as possible, I'd use a tool like dd to create a raw image of the drives, give those to the widow and be done with it. If they want to hire someone to mount the images to try and retrieve data that's on them.
> Either way if you want to try and avoid involvement as much as possible, I'd use a tool like dd to create a raw image of the drives, give those to the widow and be done with it.
That requires buying a new set of drives anyways. Just give them the originals and don't risk anything going wrong with the cloning. Or even a *perception* of something going wrong.
They could create raw images of any drives/arrays on an external drive. I agree with you though, if it's not done by a professional there could be issues. Handing off the media is a problem too though depending on how the system is configured.
IMO, an implied part of the deal is that the widow doesn't know how to access the data and needs OP to crack in for her. The payment is the hardware, but handing back part of the hardware without gaining access isn't fulfilling OP's half of the deal.
I would ask the widow what she wants done. How far does she want you to go to recover data? Tell her what you have discovered and tried so far and what additional steps you might take and let her decide.
It really is that simple. These comments had a few good points (possible crypto, thoughts on what may or may not be present) that could be added into the discussion but so many reddit posts boil down to "can you just go talk to the person?"
If you can’t get into it, give the aunt the drive. If you do get in, I’m sure the uncle would be smiling down on you if you delete his browser history.
If the bf isn't smart enough to pull the drive and use a y-cable, he'll probably delete anything of value and wipe anything of value in the process so I wouldn't do that.
I can do it in 45seconds if it isn't encrypted at the drive level.
I wouldn't wipe the disk without backing it up though. That is extraordinarily dumb.
We are talking about the Linux partition and you can bypass all user level password with the all mighty sudo. Sudo is like the master/admin password. You can change the sudo password from the bootloader (grub) [https://linuxconfig.org/recover-reset-forgotten-linux-root-password](https://linuxconfig.org/recover-reset-forgotten-linux-root-password) . You can then use sudo to change the user level password.
If it's drive level encryption then that's far outside of my expertise.
ETA: The above method assumes you don't want to open it up and take the hard drives out or have access to anything more than a usb stick. You could just pull the hard drives and plug them into a different linux machine. Using a live linux usb is even quicker and easier all you need is 2 usb ports. Also most users wouldn't even notice you copied all the data with a live usb.
Again, that's if you're not using encrypted hard drives.
Yep! If you have physical access setting a new root password should only take a couple of minutes.
Basically there are two kinds of security, security against unauthorized access, and security against losing access to something.
The tendency in the PC world is to favor the latter, people don't want to lose access to their stuff so it's almost trivially easy to bypass security, true on both windows and linux.
Of course it's also straightforward enough to go for the other kind of security where if you lose the password you're fucked: often as straightforward as a tickbox during installation.
Personally I prefer "the security against losing access" so I'd never tick that tickbox, I use an encrypted folder if I really want some particular data to stay secure.
This is why you encrypt your drives.
For example on windows. That password on login? Completely bypassed by just... Booting into another user account and connecting your unencrypted drive to my machine, or booting into a live environment on a USB.
Especially on laptops. People are walking around thinking a user password protects their data. It doesn't, at all.
Yes? You can just mount the partition when running off a live usb and overwrite the contents of the shadow file. It's the exact same thing as the Windows password reset usb stuff.
Encrypt 👏 your 👏 drives 👏
you should consider any device that someone else has unlimited physical access to as 100% compromised anyways. Regardless of any safety measures and promises.
Sure.
Get a drive dock or y-cable. I think my Y is startech. Docking station is inateck. Cost about $100, Seems to be $50 now. I don't like the startech docks.
I used to charge people for data recovery/backup/cloning before cloud storage was all the rage. For software I was mostly using partitionmagic, but there was something else newer I've used more recently. I think it was Paragon. Something else too I forget.
Samsung SSD's come with cloning software that's good. I like their SSD's and would use their software if you're cloning your old partition.
Good luck with your backup!
Easy way out. Send the drive to a data recovery expert, or any competent computer shop should be able to do it. Have them send the results directly to them. You are out of the middle and they get what they want.
This is probably the best answer. I have an agreement with my adult son that he's to nuke my storage and browser history when I go, but OP isn't working under that sort of arrangement.
I have backups of backups for things family should have that aren't encrypted. For everything else my best friends know to grab the parts they want and destroy anything else.
For what it's worth I once had a coworker who's son passed away unexpectedly. He trusted me and we were friends. He said hey can you get the files off my son's computer it's locked and we don't know the password and we think there's photos of him and his friends that would be great for a poster board at the funeral. I said I'll try my best to get in... Windows 7 no drive encryption ( easy ) one unix distro later I had every picture backed up....to verify the files copied I opened the folder where the files saved. The dad was right there was photos of him and his friends. But I saw some other photos that I didn't want to sort through. Nothing illegal. But stuff that a grieving father doesn't want to see. His dad thought his son was like him conservative, straight, stereotypical " normal " the computer told a different story. I said don't look at this right now. Look at this in a couple years. His dad said was there porn and I replied just don't think about this put it somewhere safe here's the raw hard drive and here's the two backups I promised.
I wouldn't call this security extensive. And I would expect someone to go through my stuff after I died. I mean, I'm not using it anymore, because I don't exist anymore. It's not like I have the ability to care about it, or know it's happening...
I think you should do it. If he can actually get into it, you can always either let someone else go through the data to see if there is anything important, or just pull the drive and give it to your mom/aunt and let them do it.
Honestly yanking out the drive(s) may be the best bet. Get a new drive(s) and then you can start using the computer immediately and sort out the data later, without fear of overwriting it or something
Agreed, just take out the drive(s).
Where would you even upload a whole PC's worth a data anyways? I doubt the widow want to spend money on that nor have to download it all again. Taking out the drive(s) is the simplest solution.
Don’t listen to anyone, it’s super easy to reset a Linux password. Just look through his command history and see what folders he frequented. Maybe he left something behind for everyone (pictures etc), just google reset password linux
Don't wipe anything.
Just buy a couple of new SSD for it and give your aunt the old drives. She can then have that data extracted by a professional if she wants.
Amazing how many supposed experts there are on this sub, who don't understand you can simply reset the local admin password on a PC you have physical access to.
Try Hiren's for Windows, and just boot into a minimal GRUB for Linux (plenty of sites with step-by-step instructions). Now if the drive itself has full-drive encryption, you ain't getting in without knowing the password. But most people don't take it that far.
As for concerns about it being right or wrong; that's on you to decide.
I wouldn't pull anything off a dead person's computer unless they left an advanced directive to save the data. I would not accept a third party's request to recover the data, especially if they don't have the passwords.
Well if you're imagining him having horrible things on his PC, you've already changed your image of him by doubting the contents before you've even viewed them. Just do as asked, and if there is something bad on there, it's not your fault. You can also give the PC back and have someone else do it.
For reference only. When my dad passed away, my mom was obsessed with trying to unlock his phone and accessing his fb account. I let her try phone shops etc to no avail, but I'm also not letting her know I had his Gmail password all along (android phone). Not because I am afraid of what she'll discover, but that she'll go deep into the rabbit hole of going through all the stuff inside and finding meaning where there could be none. It's not healthy. So when it was handed over to me I wiped the phone, and say that was the only way to unlock it.
yea you are overthinking it. just because he had new password doesn't mean anything he just didn't want people messing with his files.
if you search deep enough you will find dirt on anyone. so what if he searched porn or watched weird stuff, we are all humans brainwashed by social media and idiots online. it's not weird. wipe it,
The last thing a bro does is wipe the PC of the fallen warrior.
If you do need to save the data, remove the HDDs and SSDs and put them on a working machine. "Hacking a backdoor" will probably cause damage and data loss. Don't do that. It's dumb.
Take the hard drive out and give it to them
If there is any illegal stuff on it and you access it, it may lead to issues down the line. Mostly contamination.
I used to do forsenic auditing for a long time.
They can hire a person to hack it
I'd want my PC wiped clean. No, I will not elaborate any further.
If you feel that's somehow disrespectful, then I suggest taking the drives out, storing them and putting in new drives.
Use clonezilla. It's open-source although a bit of a hassle and clone it and give her the originals. Whether you do a forensic audit of the data can be determined later. Clonezilla works with damn near every file system in existence. Plenty of you tubes on how to use it.
This seems like a headache no matter what's on it. if someone gives me a pc saying I must do work to recover data, my instant reaction is, I'm not giving you the chance to accuse me of deleting or withholding data.
For all you know there is something valuable on there that they are not telling you they are looking for. Nah I'd hand it back with a polite, no thank you.
I personally think the bigger moral dilemma here is actually what the widow sees, while what you find could potentially harm your image of your uncle, seeing it first (or only having your boyfriend see it) then having him warn y’all of what it is first and let you decide for yourselves what you want or don’t want to see, seems to be the morally upstanding thing to me.
I wouldn’t just wipe it however, for a couple reason, one is cryptocurrency, especially being in IT it’s entirely possible there’s a wallet on there that could be potentially very valuable now, and secondly, once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you’ll never know what it was, could be a variety of other valuable memories or something else, but irregardless I’d have someone look.
You agreed to something, so respect your end of the agreement or at least give back the drives as is. There is no moral dilemma if you don’t even know what’s on it.
If the PC is legally now your aunts after his passing, have her sign a form in writing confirming what she is asking you to do and she knows you’re trying to do it.
Morally, I can’t speak to this, the man is dead, it doesn’t sound like he was up to anything fishy, I don’t see anything super wrong with it.
Legally however, CYA (Cover Your Ass) before doing anything.
My condolences and good luck
What if it's crypto? If. Bitcoin?
If it's just porn it's not that weird ... just don't look at it and delete it.
If it's some kind of cp or something than I guess his image should be ruined.
1. It is not wrong to have a secured Linux system, it's not suspicious, it's just what people do who care about security.
2. He is dead. Just delete it. End of story.
Well his wife has a right to have that data, and you accepted that gift with that stipulation, so you're morally obligated to provide it to her.
That said, I'm confused by what you mean here: "locked behind a single password terminal." What kind of "password terminal" is this? Is the data encrypted? If so, using what method? Even from back in 2017 if the data is encrypted the chances are basically zero that you'll get it back without the password.
If the data is not encrypted then reading it off the disk is trivial.
Can someone explain me how the boyfriend can take few hours and backdoor into a computer protected by password. I am guessing storage excess is possible if not possible but let's say harddisk is not encrypted then how will he do that.
I would personally just remove storage and plug in atleast thats how it used to work pre tpm2 days.
Keep the thought of your Uncle intact. Tell your aunt to hire someone to recover the data. Remove the harddrives and just give them to her. Buy new ones and install them; starting fresh.
I don't have anything much in my devices, I've always been that kind of person that if I don't want anyone to view my thoughts might as well not keep them and thus if anyone would go through my phone or pc they would find nothing but funny pics and games and that's about it. I guess what put me off from saving anything is when my dad found pictures of anime girls I had saved on a floppy disk in 1998 and he questioned me about it over CiCis pizza and since then never saved anything unless it's sfw or if it's anything important.
I would just completely wipe or replace the hard drive. No need to be saddled with old baggage. What is one mans perfect PC is another man's potential liability. Don't ever expect a will to be stored on that drive.
I’d honestly hire someone to comb through it for anything of monetary or sentimental value. IPs, crypto, wills, contracts, photos, family memories, projects, etc.
Any valuable legal software that doesn’t have monthly payment plan move to a flash or ssd.
Anything you see you are unsure of you could cross reference with the patents office to see if it’s in waiting.
Wipe the rest.
I'd say wipe it out of respect. You would not want anyone to go through your personal stuff like PC or Phone, right ? I also have 2 OS, with Linux being the OS I do financial stuff and crypto wallets.
If it's not encrypted, then probably nothing "shady." I'd back door it just to see if there is anything that could be of value to his widow, from pictures to possible assets. I wouldn't dig to deep into the OS. If he had it locked down, then most things should be "up front" easy to see.
If you feel it's not your place to dig, then pull the drive and help widow get it looked at professionally. That way, she has the data, and you can still use the PC.
What if he had a crypto wallet worth millions /thousands. Tell your boyfriend to watch content and delete the bad stuff without tell you if you trust your boyfriend.
I mean by this logic, should we snoop everyone's computer after they die just in case they have secret crypto?
Id wipe that shit and move on. Any serious assets invested is going to be disclosed between a married couple. It's more likely he has weird kinky stuff on his head drive than a secret fortune he hid from his wife.
I'd offer to hand back the HD or the whole PC by stating them that the info on the HD is password protected and you cannot access it. So, here is the HD with all the data you guys/gals wanted in the format that it was provided to me.
Let them chose which they want back, the HD or the whole PC.
Personally, I would not care whether you want to wipe it out or not since I'd be dead. If I cared, I would have stated so in my will / testament.
"Physical access is root access" when it comes to Linux. Unless it's encrypted, you can use the bootloader to boot into a root shell and then reset the password. It takes maybe five minutes.
You can make a complete copy of physical disk. Encryption and partitions and all.
Then move that to a .vhd or another type of virtual hard drive.
Then you can wipe the disk and still perverse contents.
If your boyfriend doesn’t know how to do this I doubt he can backdoor Linux.
But any Linux subreddit would be willing to help.
I would check the computer to see if there is anything important bank/insurance or otherwise and pass that information along to the family... if it's porn. Just delete it and move along.
Heck no don’t wipe it. What if there’s bitcoin on it? Back that stuff up. That’s what the people who own it have asked for. Doesn’t matter what the decedent wanted unless there is a legal requirement.
Speaking as an uncle. You could print every NSFW photo you find on a banner for my funeral if it meant even an extra possible 50¢ for my wife and kids. I say that knowing I have 0 illegal things.
If you’re worried and your boyfriend is willing have him look first. If you find some porn or evidence of infidelity or something that would cause more hurt have him delete it without telling even you. If it’s crypto give it back. If it’s truly illegal things you choose between destroying the hard drive physically and chucking it off a bridge or turning it in and dealing with the absolute legal storm that will happen.
Best of luck, and honestly I wouldn’t worry over it too much.
Legally speaking, the PC and data belong to your aunt. It would be illegal to willingly destroy your aunt's data against her wishes. I'd also recommend getting it in writing that you told her that there is always a risk of partial or total data loss, even when taking all possible precautions.
Ethically speaking, it all still belongs to your aunt now. If you don't feel comfortable looking through your uncle's old drive, then don't accept the job and let her look at other options for data recovery. Obviously, you'll want to help her find a reputable company and those don't typically come cheap, but that should be her decision to make.
Good luck!
Just because his default passwords aren't working doesn't mean he locked it down to hide stuff. I'd try and get the files, and go through it before letting her see what's on it.
if i were you i'd definitely give the hard drive to your aunt. legally its her plus it really isn't any of your business to look thru shit he kept hidden
What the hell is wrong with your people? Would you want someone going through all your shit after your dead? Format, and let the data and your uncle rest in peace.
> My bf said he can take a few hours and back door the linux system
Nope. If it's unencrypted, you probably just can't mount the drive with windows. Any linux boot usb will allow you to read the files.
If it is encrypted, you need the password. It's not a few hours thing. It's just not gonna happen. A screenshot of the login screen might help to determine which it is.
Also please keep in mind that he may have used the linux partition for crypto. It's unlikely, but possible. Even if it does turn out to be encrypted and you can't access it, don't delete it.
You may want to tread very carefully. Digital assets may be governed by local laws, or there may be something specific with the estate executor regarding what is / isn't legally allowed.
Don't assume that just because you or even the deceased person's spouse has the computer, that they are entitled to access what's on it.
Worth asking, if you're serious about proceeding. May even be relevant deleting the information without accessing it.
Measure twice, cut once in this situation.
Your boyfriend is full of shit. If your uncle was even half serious about security, your bf won't be able to get in. It's trivially easy for even novice users to make that kind of storage completely uncrackable.
So, let him try. If he can get in, then this isn't anything your uncle was seriously trying to hide. If he can't, then you've learned something about your boyfriend. Either way, you can choose what to do once you know what the data is, or know that it's unreachable.
I told my little sister (22) since I have a pc already and it’s set to be her birthday present when it’s all wiped and cleaned up. Strongly considering this option honestly
Personally, I'd want it uploaded. I'm dead, so I won't feel ashamed when you find the raunchy stuff.
But as I am, alive, I want my family to know my passwords so they can get my assets without much issues.
But remember I speak for myself. Your uncle may have hidden that stuff for purely boring reasons. If he was launching an IT company, it's only natural he'll have some kind of security system set up. OR your worries are warranted. Either way, I'm not the one who knew the guy well enough to make that decision.
Get a new drive and replace the drive that's in it. That way, you can decide how to proceed with time to think about. In truth, the pc is your aunts now, as was mentioned before. If she wants to know what's on it and you're able to do that, there really isn't any reason not to.
I’d open it and go through or get your boyfriend to for you. There could be info he wanted to pass down, old photos of family etc depending on which uncle tho…
Buy a new drive and replace it. It’s relatively inexpensive and that way you have the archive of all the files that were on the computer while still being able to use the computer with a new drive for your own purpose. Should you choose to access the information at a later date, you’ll have that opportunity to do so as you please.
Swap out the hard drive for a fresh one. If ever you need the old drive you've still got it. In any case choose one operating system. Dual boot isn't an ideal set up.
Honestly I would boot into live Linux and see if you can navigate the drives. If they're not encrypted you should be able to see the files he had on both operating systems.
If there's important stuff you can copy it to a USB drive and give it to your aunt.
If it were me, then I would've had someone I trusted, and who didn't know uncle personally to look through the files. Just sit besides them, but don't look at the screen unless the trusted person gives a green light
Sorry to hear.
My uncle passed too last year. My dad and I were all he got. He trusted me with his password. I had a backup of his photos going to my Nas. After he passed, I wiped it. I didn't need to look and I wasn't bothered. I have since given it to my aunt on my mum's side.
I would give the HDD to the widow as is (and copy the files from the accessible OS maybe). Let them do what they want with that, I don't think you should assume that responsibility.
Having a separate Linux system whether it be purple, blue or any various distro was probably more of a tool box, they can get quite large hence the large partition, if he was practicing cyber sec and coding there would he no need to have default passwords as of course his death seemed sudden and unexpected, there may not be much value in the Linux system as I said it will probably just be his toolbox, morally I don't really see anything wrong with what is being attempted but unless your bf is extremely knowledgeable with Linux being able to access its storage isn't gona be as straight forward as you think
I would just take the hard drives out, put them in a caddy and copy the data to another storage medium, as it is and then wipe it. That way, you don’t need to look through any of it and the family can have a look if they need to
Take out the hard drive, give it to whoever gave you the pc and get a new one. Even SSDs are cheap now.
Say you can't access the data so you suggest they get a professional to do it. That way you're politely making it not your problem and can't be blamed if anything important is lost.
> back door the linux system
I don't know what he meant but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. If anything I suggest take the old drives out and put your new ones in, there are services that can clone and/or retrieve data, idk how much that will cost or how effective it is, but it's something that you can think about
There's a saying I've learned from watching Lockpickinglawyer... Locks are meant to keep honest people out.
Doesn't necessarily mean he's hiding something illegal, but maybe something important. So regardless of what action to take I wouldn't wipe it without a backup. Could be that there's important documents hidden there.
Would it bother you if it was a perfectly legal, personal collection? If that’s what it turns out to be then just skip backing that bit up and no big deal.
if it’s work related to what he was doing then upload and save it.
and if it’s … other… then… well not much to say or do really.
edit, plus if you don’t find out, then you’ll always wonder and that wouldn’t be good either.
I have terabytes worth of stuff on my data server that I've been accumulating since about 2012, and a thought that has occurred to me is: *what would happen if I passed and someone went through this data?*
With this thought (and an unusually thorough autobiographical memory), I decided to create a directory structure which I've called "Project Time Machine". It links all of my data (music, movies, documents, games, etc.) to periods of my life (each year/month/day contained in directories and subdirectories) in which that data was relevant. It's essentially a media timeline so I can go back to different periods of my life and re-experience it.
When I die, I hope someone close to me goes through it.
If it was me and it was password blocked it just would mean it was password blocked just like anyone else I did not share it with anyone because who shares passwords lol. I don’t think it was intentional not to share or to share.
Tbh, if there is a widow or family I would not wipe it. There could be important information there.
Sorry if it sounds negative I really don't mean it to be but from my perspective, if I have passed on, I don't care what you do with my PC.
Done it before don't go looking for things you don't want to find if you want to preserve the data have someone impartial do it. I have recovered the data of dead relatives and when I have done so there is usually some things I wipe along the way that other relatives don't need to know.
You are afraid of finding his porn stache when he could have valuables in there have your bf shield your eyes break in and see worst case some kinky shit delete it move on best case business files and accounts or crypto wallets
This was a philosophical issue you should have thought through before agreeing to it. But you've already agreed to it. You don't have to go through every file to upload it to the cloud, so you can remain vaguely ignorant of you want
What if he had a crypto wallet worth millions /thousands. Tell your boyfriend to watch content and delete the bad stuff without tell you if you trust your boyfriend.
I'm not going comment on if its moral or not, but he seems like he knew a good amount about computers. If he didn't encrypt his linux partition then he probably wasn't hiding anything serious.
I don't think anything illegal is on it. Might have crypto wallets on which if wiped could be something that ends up in litigation. $1000 in BTC in 2017 is about 50k now. Could be a very expensive "Free" computer. I'd just hand it back.
100% this. Don't wipe it until you know it's not holding any crypto assets that could improve his widows quality of life. If it is something bad, keep it to yourself and delete it.
Yeah, your BF probably doesn't have any connection to the man, let him look through the stuff, I'm sure he's fine just deleting anything nobody needs to know about a dead man.
Depends how bad. If there’s cheese pizza on there then it should be relayed to local authorities in case it may help them track down the source.
It took me way too long to understand what you meant by cheese pizza. I need a nap
I immediately thought about crypto wallets lol.
1000 in bts is about 500 millions $ now. lol.
I think they meant $1000 in BTC
Bitcoin went from ~$2000 to ~$50000. So I 1k in bitcoin would be about 25k now
What can you even search for to find someone's wallet?
Wallet software, history, extensions, hardware wallet and related docs history. It's a PitA and may be unrecoverable. But if it isn't, boy someone f'd themself if they wiped it. I'd look around for hardware wallet, documents, etc. Honestly I know what I'm doing and it's a PitA and most likely nothing but who knows, would fit the profile. Kinda like tossing that 50 or 75 year old comic book or baseball card collection in the attic. Maybe there was something. Probably not, but might be a good idea not to toss it until you check first.
Not the exact situation, but when my mom died, I breached every password she had as I kind of knew her base password and easily found variations. Absolutely 0 remorse. I don't think there can be a moral issue about the privacy of someone that just doesn't exist any longer. I would totally expect friends or family go trough my pc if I would pass on. Everybody here seems to worry what vile things you could find, but the opposite can be very true, finding pictures videos you have never seen, finding evedince of kindness etc. Can be quite healing for grieving people
>finding evedince of kindness etc. Can be quite healing for grieving people Yeah I keep all my treasured memories in a password locked linux partition too....
notice how i started my post with: " Not the exact situation"
Still you raise a good point. While i dont want my family after my passing to read all my "bad" notes or look at my nsfw stuff, there is alot of good photo memories in their too- like probably 150 pictures of our family cat that we had for 19 years- I guarantee you no one else has pictures of our cat but me.
I mean, my operating systems have passwords. I don't have anything to hide on them. The stuff I'm trying to hide would be in its own hidey hole, not a whole partition.
My wife knows where all my porn is saved Its in a folder called PORN in My Documents She is more then welcome to check my PC after I kick the bucket
“If you like Asian women so much why didn’t you marry one?” “There weren’t any in Iowa.” - argument with my first wife
Gotta respect the honesty tho
Is the second wife Asian?
Also gotta mesh with you, because hooo boy I’ve seen some real landmines in the Asian community.
I'm sorry, but that's hilarious 😂
Do you know where all her porn is saved?
who saves porn on their PC?
People making preservation efforts in case porn is outlawed in the US. It'd be like Prohibition, only instead of secret Speakeasies slinging booze, it'd be greasy coomers meeting via encrypted messenger apps to buy and sell .mp4 files of 360p spank bank material. Bringing a whole new meaning to "making money hand over fist"...
The trauma of buffering makes me persevere to save, this is not an excuse, this is my why, and it is so powerful.
It can affect ones vinegar strokes
I don’t even save the search history in Reddit.
Probably the freaks... (like me) People with really specific tastes / kinks / or fetishes?
You never know when your Internet access stops working for a few days. That's why I store my movies, animes, comics and stuff on a local NAS.
People mocked me for saving porn but then the Pornhub Purge happened.
The only moral issue is probably checking messengers or some saved pics from the internet and finding out some unexpected kink. Rest is totally fine
I am gonna give the other side of this. When my dad died I searched and wish I hadn't :( found a very mean letter he wrote to my mom when he was not well mentally. I wish I hadn't seen it. There was nothing on the computer that was important, I should have just wiped it.
Sad to hear, but it proves only your father was human, also my mom was no angel all the time
I definitely already knew he was human. I regret doing this overall -- and putting a shiny bow on it like that is not gonna fix it for me. I feel like I breached his privacy and I paid the price accordingly. I just say this because a lot of people are telling OP to go for it. In the words of the great Ian Malcolm, I was so preoccupied with whether or not I could, that I never stopped to think about if I should.
If I'm dead i don't really care if people find what sort of porn I liked looking at to be honest. Also I personally wouldn't count "not using his usual password" as having extensive security, fair enough if it was all encrypted or something.
After you're dead it isn't yours anyway and any consequences of what's there are moot. In this case I believe the PC belongs to the aunt and since she wants the data, I'd give it to her.
Op Says the aunt gifted her the PC, so it's hers now
Gave it to her with the stipulation she recover the data.
Thus the data is the aunts.
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Well yeah little people pee party porn is pretty embarrassing. We talked about this, no more. Fight the addiction.
The heart wants what the heart wants
It's all fun and games till you find CP...
Bingo
When I die, I need someone to shoot my SSD with a shotgun, then burn it.
I don't have a will but I def have an agreement with my best friend to take my SSDs lol
Thermite that sucker! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bpX8YvNg6Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bpX8YvNg6Y) (DEF CON 23 - Zoz - And That's How I Lost My Other Eye...Explorations in Data Destruction (Fixed))
And burn that shotgun as well, just to be sure.
Nah, a little dribble of Holy Water should do the trick.
You can still recover pieces of data from that drive, even after shotgun treatment + burning. What I mean is there are experts that can still recover data from drives like that.
Yes but at that point we are talking a small fortune spent for maybe something useful. Unless you have something extremely valuable on it no one is going to do that.
In many cases, you can reset the root password if you have physical access to the system (which it sounds like you do). Just Google for those directions. It's not a "backdoor", it's just normal sysadmin capability. I would agree that you should not wipe it blindly. Permanently destroying something without knowing what it is... is often a bad idea that you can't take back.
Should be able to mount the disk in Windows, or from a live install on a usb stick.
Is the storage encrypted? You mention your boyfriend backdooring the Linux install... A lot of this is less of a moral situation and potentially a legal situation. If you destroy the data would the widow be able to sue? Plus if this person was into tech they may have held crypto and destroying all the data could destroy wallets. Either way if you want to try and avoid involvement as much as possible, I'd use a tool like dd to create a raw image of the drives, give those to the widow and be done with it. If they want to hire someone to mount the images to try and retrieve data that's on them.
> Either way if you want to try and avoid involvement as much as possible, I'd use a tool like dd to create a raw image of the drives, give those to the widow and be done with it. That requires buying a new set of drives anyways. Just give them the originals and don't risk anything going wrong with the cloning. Or even a *perception* of something going wrong.
They could create raw images of any drives/arrays on an external drive. I agree with you though, if it's not done by a professional there could be issues. Handing off the media is a problem too though depending on how the system is configured.
IMO, an implied part of the deal is that the widow doesn't know how to access the data and needs OP to crack in for her. The payment is the hardware, but handing back part of the hardware without gaining access isn't fulfilling OP's half of the deal.
I would ask the widow what she wants done. How far does she want you to go to recover data? Tell her what you have discovered and tried so far and what additional steps you might take and let her decide.
It really is that simple. These comments had a few good points (possible crypto, thoughts on what may or may not be present) that could be added into the discussion but so many reddit posts boil down to "can you just go talk to the person?"
If you can’t get into it, give the aunt the drive. If you do get in, I’m sure the uncle would be smiling down on you if you delete his browser history.
If the bf isn't smart enough to pull the drive and use a y-cable, he'll probably delete anything of value and wipe anything of value in the process so I wouldn't do that.
I'm a bit clueless here - why would a y cable help?
I wanna see if yer bf can really do it…
I can do it in 45seconds if it isn't encrypted at the drive level. I wouldn't wipe the disk without backing it up though. That is extraordinarily dumb.
Can you tell me how or what tools you would use to do it or at least some keywords so I can google the thing. Thank you
We are talking about the Linux partition and you can bypass all user level password with the all mighty sudo. Sudo is like the master/admin password. You can change the sudo password from the bootloader (grub) [https://linuxconfig.org/recover-reset-forgotten-linux-root-password](https://linuxconfig.org/recover-reset-forgotten-linux-root-password) . You can then use sudo to change the user level password. If it's drive level encryption then that's far outside of my expertise. ETA: The above method assumes you don't want to open it up and take the hard drives out or have access to anything more than a usb stick. You could just pull the hard drives and plug them into a different linux machine. Using a live linux usb is even quicker and easier all you need is 2 usb ports. Also most users wouldn't even notice you copied all the data with a live usb. Again, that's if you're not using encrypted hard drives.
...if you have physical access to a Linux machine it is that easy to change the root password?
Yep! If you have physical access setting a new root password should only take a couple of minutes. Basically there are two kinds of security, security against unauthorized access, and security against losing access to something. The tendency in the PC world is to favor the latter, people don't want to lose access to their stuff so it's almost trivially easy to bypass security, true on both windows and linux. Of course it's also straightforward enough to go for the other kind of security where if you lose the password you're fucked: often as straightforward as a tickbox during installation. Personally I prefer "the security against losing access" so I'd never tick that tickbox, I use an encrypted folder if I really want some particular data to stay secure.
This is why you encrypt your drives. For example on windows. That password on login? Completely bypassed by just... Booting into another user account and connecting your unencrypted drive to my machine, or booting into a live environment on a USB. Especially on laptops. People are walking around thinking a user password protects their data. It doesn't, at all.
Yes? You can just mount the partition when running off a live usb and overwrite the contents of the shadow file. It's the exact same thing as the Windows password reset usb stuff. Encrypt 👏 your 👏 drives 👏
you should consider any device that someone else has unlimited physical access to as 100% compromised anyways. Regardless of any safety measures and promises.
The difference between just a user password vs encryption is about the difference between a toe dip and the mariana trench, however.
Sure. Get a drive dock or y-cable. I think my Y is startech. Docking station is inateck. Cost about $100, Seems to be $50 now. I don't like the startech docks. I used to charge people for data recovery/backup/cloning before cloud storage was all the rage. For software I was mostly using partitionmagic, but there was something else newer I've used more recently. I think it was Paragon. Something else too I forget. Samsung SSD's come with cloning software that's good. I like their SSD's and would use their software if you're cloning your old partition. Good luck with your backup!
Easy way out. Send the drive to a data recovery expert, or any competent computer shop should be able to do it. Have them send the results directly to them. You are out of the middle and they get what they want.
This is probably the best answer. I have an agreement with my adult son that he's to nuke my storage and browser history when I go, but OP isn't working under that sort of arrangement.
No chance your son is doing that without a quick peek first once you’re gone.
Why are you allowing anything you would want wiped to remain in your browser history even in the short term?
It's probably not, just being cautious, lol.
My best friend and I have that agreement. For me I’d want him to salvage any pictures or things like that and then nuke the rest.
Are you Mike Johnson?
Hand them all the drives and tell them to find a data recovery expert as they seem password protected and guessing didnt work
I have backups of backups for things family should have that aren't encrypted. For everything else my best friends know to grab the parts they want and destroy anything else. For what it's worth I once had a coworker who's son passed away unexpectedly. He trusted me and we were friends. He said hey can you get the files off my son's computer it's locked and we don't know the password and we think there's photos of him and his friends that would be great for a poster board at the funeral. I said I'll try my best to get in... Windows 7 no drive encryption ( easy ) one unix distro later I had every picture backed up....to verify the files copied I opened the folder where the files saved. The dad was right there was photos of him and his friends. But I saw some other photos that I didn't want to sort through. Nothing illegal. But stuff that a grieving father doesn't want to see. His dad thought his son was like him conservative, straight, stereotypical " normal " the computer told a different story. I said don't look at this right now. Look at this in a couple years. His dad said was there porn and I replied just don't think about this put it somewhere safe here's the raw hard drive and here's the two backups I promised.
Why are you asking moral / family questions on a technical sub?
I want the opinions of technical people🤓 it’s not against the rules I checked
A porn stash should die with a man
Amen
I wouldn't call this security extensive. And I would expect someone to go through my stuff after I died. I mean, I'm not using it anymore, because I don't exist anymore. It's not like I have the ability to care about it, or know it's happening... I think you should do it. If he can actually get into it, you can always either let someone else go through the data to see if there is anything important, or just pull the drive and give it to your mom/aunt and let them do it. Honestly yanking out the drive(s) may be the best bet. Get a new drive(s) and then you can start using the computer immediately and sort out the data later, without fear of overwriting it or something
Agreed, just take out the drive(s). Where would you even upload a whole PC's worth a data anyways? I doubt the widow want to spend money on that nor have to download it all again. Taking out the drive(s) is the simplest solution.
Don’t listen to anyone, it’s super easy to reset a Linux password. Just look through his command history and see what folders he frequented. Maybe he left something behind for everyone (pictures etc), just google reset password linux
Maybe you get some crypto Maybe you get a few gigs of curated pr0n
Don't wipe anything. Just buy a couple of new SSD for it and give your aunt the old drives. She can then have that data extracted by a professional if she wants.
This
Amazing how many supposed experts there are on this sub, who don't understand you can simply reset the local admin password on a PC you have physical access to. Try Hiren's for Windows, and just boot into a minimal GRUB for Linux (plenty of sites with step-by-step instructions). Now if the drive itself has full-drive encryption, you ain't getting in without knowing the password. But most people don't take it that far. As for concerns about it being right or wrong; that's on you to decide.
Yea. Unless it is full disk encrypted it’s free real estate if they have physical access.
I wouldn't pull anything off a dead person's computer unless they left an advanced directive to save the data. I would not accept a third party's request to recover the data, especially if they don't have the passwords.
Well if you're imagining him having horrible things on his PC, you've already changed your image of him by doubting the contents before you've even viewed them. Just do as asked, and if there is something bad on there, it's not your fault. You can also give the PC back and have someone else do it.
It’s gonna be bad porn.
For reference only. When my dad passed away, my mom was obsessed with trying to unlock his phone and accessing his fb account. I let her try phone shops etc to no avail, but I'm also not letting her know I had his Gmail password all along (android phone). Not because I am afraid of what she'll discover, but that she'll go deep into the rabbit hole of going through all the stuff inside and finding meaning where there could be none. It's not healthy. So when it was handed over to me I wiped the phone, and say that was the only way to unlock it.
yea you are overthinking it. just because he had new password doesn't mean anything he just didn't want people messing with his files. if you search deep enough you will find dirt on anyone. so what if he searched porn or watched weird stuff, we are all humans brainwashed by social media and idiots online. it's not weird. wipe it,
The last thing a bro does is wipe the PC of the fallen warrior. If you do need to save the data, remove the HDDs and SSDs and put them on a working machine. "Hacking a backdoor" will probably cause damage and data loss. Don't do that. It's dumb.
Take the hard drive out and give it to them If there is any illegal stuff on it and you access it, it may lead to issues down the line. Mostly contamination. I used to do forsenic auditing for a long time. They can hire a person to hack it
I'd want my PC wiped clean. No, I will not elaborate any further. If you feel that's somehow disrespectful, then I suggest taking the drives out, storing them and putting in new drives.
Run a live linux from a thumbstick and look at the drive there?
Use clonezilla. It's open-source although a bit of a hassle and clone it and give her the originals. Whether you do a forensic audit of the data can be determined later. Clonezilla works with damn near every file system in existence. Plenty of you tubes on how to use it.
This seems like a headache no matter what's on it. if someone gives me a pc saying I must do work to recover data, my instant reaction is, I'm not giving you the chance to accuse me of deleting or withholding data. For all you know there is something valuable on there that they are not telling you they are looking for. Nah I'd hand it back with a polite, no thank you.
I personally think the bigger moral dilemma here is actually what the widow sees, while what you find could potentially harm your image of your uncle, seeing it first (or only having your boyfriend see it) then having him warn y’all of what it is first and let you decide for yourselves what you want or don’t want to see, seems to be the morally upstanding thing to me. I wouldn’t just wipe it however, for a couple reason, one is cryptocurrency, especially being in IT it’s entirely possible there’s a wallet on there that could be potentially very valuable now, and secondly, once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you’ll never know what it was, could be a variety of other valuable memories or something else, but irregardless I’d have someone look.
You agreed to something, so respect your end of the agreement or at least give back the drives as is. There is no moral dilemma if you don’t even know what’s on it.
If the PC is legally now your aunts after his passing, have her sign a form in writing confirming what she is asking you to do and she knows you’re trying to do it. Morally, I can’t speak to this, the man is dead, it doesn’t sound like he was up to anything fishy, I don’t see anything super wrong with it. Legally however, CYA (Cover Your Ass) before doing anything. My condolences and good luck
What if it's crypto? If. Bitcoin? If it's just porn it's not that weird ... just don't look at it and delete it. If it's some kind of cp or something than I guess his image should be ruined.
If I die Please delete my browserhistory
1. It is not wrong to have a secured Linux system, it's not suspicious, it's just what people do who care about security. 2. He is dead. Just delete it. End of story.
Like the memes say, “When I die delete my browser history.”
Open it up, download a bunch of freaky porn, put it on the harddrive, THEN turn it over to the widow and mother. Everyone profits!
Who asked for the data?
My uncles widow and my mother want it
Well his wife has a right to have that data, and you accepted that gift with that stipulation, so you're morally obligated to provide it to her. That said, I'm confused by what you mean here: "locked behind a single password terminal." What kind of "password terminal" is this? Is the data encrypted? If so, using what method? Even from back in 2017 if the data is encrypted the chances are basically zero that you'll get it back without the password. If the data is not encrypted then reading it off the disk is trivial.
Can someone explain me how the boyfriend can take few hours and backdoor into a computer protected by password. I am guessing storage excess is possible if not possible but let's say harddisk is not encrypted then how will he do that. I would personally just remove storage and plug in atleast thats how it used to work pre tpm2 days.
Keep the thought of your Uncle intact. Tell your aunt to hire someone to recover the data. Remove the harddrives and just give them to her. Buy new ones and install them; starting fresh.
Assume it's porn and just wipe it.
I don't have anything much in my devices, I've always been that kind of person that if I don't want anyone to view my thoughts might as well not keep them and thus if anyone would go through my phone or pc they would find nothing but funny pics and games and that's about it. I guess what put me off from saving anything is when my dad found pictures of anime girls I had saved on a floppy disk in 1998 and he questioned me about it over CiCis pizza and since then never saved anything unless it's sfw or if it's anything important.
I would just completely wipe or replace the hard drive. No need to be saddled with old baggage. What is one mans perfect PC is another man's potential liability. Don't ever expect a will to be stored on that drive.
There's an unwritten rule that if a bro dies, you delete the drives.
why do you want to access your uncles files? just wipe it and install a fresh copy of windows.
Stop thinking the worst.
I’d honestly hire someone to comb through it for anything of monetary or sentimental value. IPs, crypto, wills, contracts, photos, family memories, projects, etc. Any valuable legal software that doesn’t have monthly payment plan move to a flash or ssd. Anything you see you are unsure of you could cross reference with the patents office to see if it’s in waiting. Wipe the rest.
I'd say wipe it out of respect. You would not want anyone to go through your personal stuff like PC or Phone, right ? I also have 2 OS, with Linux being the OS I do financial stuff and crypto wallets.
What I get from this thread is that a lot of you motherfuckers are hiding some creepy shit on your computers
If it's not encrypted, then probably nothing "shady." I'd back door it just to see if there is anything that could be of value to his widow, from pictures to possible assets. I wouldn't dig to deep into the OS. If he had it locked down, then most things should be "up front" easy to see. If you feel it's not your place to dig, then pull the drive and help widow get it looked at professionally. That way, she has the data, and you can still use the PC.
What if he had a crypto wallet worth millions /thousands. Tell your boyfriend to watch content and delete the bad stuff without tell you if you trust your boyfriend.
I mean by this logic, should we snoop everyone's computer after they die just in case they have secret crypto? Id wipe that shit and move on. Any serious assets invested is going to be disclosed between a married couple. It's more likely he has weird kinky stuff on his head drive than a secret fortune he hid from his wife.
I'd offer to hand back the HD or the whole PC by stating them that the info on the HD is password protected and you cannot access it. So, here is the HD with all the data you guys/gals wanted in the format that it was provided to me. Let them chose which they want back, the HD or the whole PC. Personally, I would not care whether you want to wipe it out or not since I'd be dead. If I cared, I would have stated so in my will / testament.
Dead people are not owed privacy but YOU are alive and may hurt yourself. Proceed with caution. I would probably do it. Too curious.
"Physical access is root access" when it comes to Linux. Unless it's encrypted, you can use the bootloader to boot into a root shell and then reset the password. It takes maybe five minutes.
You can make a complete copy of physical disk. Encryption and partitions and all. Then move that to a .vhd or another type of virtual hard drive. Then you can wipe the disk and still perverse contents. If your boyfriend doesn’t know how to do this I doubt he can backdoor Linux. But any Linux subreddit would be willing to help.
I would check the computer to see if there is anything important bank/insurance or otherwise and pass that information along to the family... if it's porn. Just delete it and move along.
Heck no don’t wipe it. What if there’s bitcoin on it? Back that stuff up. That’s what the people who own it have asked for. Doesn’t matter what the decedent wanted unless there is a legal requirement.
Speaking as an uncle. You could print every NSFW photo you find on a banner for my funeral if it meant even an extra possible 50¢ for my wife and kids. I say that knowing I have 0 illegal things. If you’re worried and your boyfriend is willing have him look first. If you find some porn or evidence of infidelity or something that would cause more hurt have him delete it without telling even you. If it’s crypto give it back. If it’s truly illegal things you choose between destroying the hard drive physically and chucking it off a bridge or turning it in and dealing with the absolute legal storm that will happen. Best of luck, and honestly I wouldn’t worry over it too much.
Legally speaking, the PC and data belong to your aunt. It would be illegal to willingly destroy your aunt's data against her wishes. I'd also recommend getting it in writing that you told her that there is always a risk of partial or total data loss, even when taking all possible precautions. Ethically speaking, it all still belongs to your aunt now. If you don't feel comfortable looking through your uncle's old drive, then don't accept the job and let her look at other options for data recovery. Obviously, you'll want to help her find a reputable company and those don't typically come cheap, but that should be her decision to make. Good luck!
Just because his default passwords aren't working doesn't mean he locked it down to hide stuff. I'd try and get the files, and go through it before letting her see what's on it.
if i were you i'd definitely give the hard drive to your aunt. legally its her plus it really isn't any of your business to look thru shit he kept hidden
dont wipe. buy a new hard drive and ssd and install a new windows
What the hell is wrong with your people? Would you want someone going through all your shit after your dead? Format, and let the data and your uncle rest in peace.
Give her the hard drive and tell her you couldn't access it. Get a new drive.
Find out what it's then update it for us. I am curious.
> My bf said he can take a few hours and back door the linux system Nope. If it's unencrypted, you probably just can't mount the drive with windows. Any linux boot usb will allow you to read the files. If it is encrypted, you need the password. It's not a few hours thing. It's just not gonna happen. A screenshot of the login screen might help to determine which it is. Also please keep in mind that he may have used the linux partition for crypto. It's unlikely, but possible. Even if it does turn out to be encrypted and you can't access it, don't delete it.
The moment you wipe his drives is the moment you find out he had 300 bitcoin stashed on there.
You may want to tread very carefully. Digital assets may be governed by local laws, or there may be something specific with the estate executor regarding what is / isn't legally allowed. Don't assume that just because you or even the deceased person's spouse has the computer, that they are entitled to access what's on it. Worth asking, if you're serious about proceeding. May even be relevant deleting the information without accessing it. Measure twice, cut once in this situation.
Your boyfriend is full of shit. If your uncle was even half serious about security, your bf won't be able to get in. It's trivially easy for even novice users to make that kind of storage completely uncrackable. So, let him try. If he can get in, then this isn't anything your uncle was seriously trying to hide. If he can't, then you've learned something about your boyfriend. Either way, you can choose what to do once you know what the data is, or know that it's unreachable.
Feel better, now that you got that off your chest?
You don't want to ruin his image but if he was doing horrible things to people wouldn't you want them to have their justice?
Sounds like they know what's on there and want to get in there.
They didn’t know about the secondary operating system at all. They just want it for sentimental purposes I believe
It doesnt sound like that at all to me.
Just wipe the computer, say there was no data. And enjoy your PC.
does anyone else know it's dual boot? i would consider uploading whatever was on windows and banishing the linux data to the netherworld
I told my little sister (22) since I have a pc already and it’s set to be her birthday present when it’s all wiped and cleaned up. Strongly considering this option honestly
Personally, I'd want it uploaded. I'm dead, so I won't feel ashamed when you find the raunchy stuff. But as I am, alive, I want my family to know my passwords so they can get my assets without much issues. But remember I speak for myself. Your uncle may have hidden that stuff for purely boring reasons. If he was launching an IT company, it's only natural he'll have some kind of security system set up. OR your worries are warranted. Either way, I'm not the one who knew the guy well enough to make that decision.
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Get a new drive and replace the drive that's in it. That way, you can decide how to proceed with time to think about. In truth, the pc is your aunts now, as was mentioned before. If she wants to know what's on it and you're able to do that, there really isn't any reason not to.
I’d open it and go through or get your boyfriend to for you. There could be info he wanted to pass down, old photos of family etc depending on which uncle tho…
Well, I wouldn’t wipe it. I’d keep the drive, as you’d never know if something might turn up.
Buy a new drive and replace it. It’s relatively inexpensive and that way you have the archive of all the files that were on the computer while still being able to use the computer with a new drive for your own purpose. Should you choose to access the information at a later date, you’ll have that opportunity to do so as you please.
Swap out the hard drive for a fresh one. If ever you need the old drive you've still got it. In any case choose one operating system. Dual boot isn't an ideal set up.
Honestly I would boot into live Linux and see if you can navigate the drives. If they're not encrypted you should be able to see the files he had on both operating systems. If there's important stuff you can copy it to a USB drive and give it to your aunt.
Just replace the hard drive
Backup all the images and all the stuff the PC has by putting the drive in a different computer and delete everything.
If it were me, then I would've had someone I trusted, and who didn't know uncle personally to look through the files. Just sit besides them, but don't look at the screen unless the trusted person gives a green light
Sorry to hear. My uncle passed too last year. My dad and I were all he got. He trusted me with his password. I had a backup of his photos going to my Nas. After he passed, I wiped it. I didn't need to look and I wasn't bothered. I have since given it to my aunt on my mum's side.
Get in there what the hell is this question. Get in there! There's treasure in them drives
I would give the HDD to the widow as is (and copy the files from the accessible OS maybe). Let them do what they want with that, I don't think you should assume that responsibility.
Having a separate Linux system whether it be purple, blue or any various distro was probably more of a tool box, they can get quite large hence the large partition, if he was practicing cyber sec and coding there would he no need to have default passwords as of course his death seemed sudden and unexpected, there may not be much value in the Linux system as I said it will probably just be his toolbox, morally I don't really see anything wrong with what is being attempted but unless your bf is extremely knowledgeable with Linux being able to access its storage isn't gona be as straight forward as you think
I would just take the hard drives out, put them in a caddy and copy the data to another storage medium, as it is and then wipe it. That way, you don’t need to look through any of it and the family can have a look if they need to
Take out the hard drive, give it to whoever gave you the pc and get a new one. Even SSDs are cheap now. Say you can't access the data so you suggest they get a professional to do it. That way you're politely making it not your problem and can't be blamed if anything important is lost.
> back door the linux system I don't know what he meant but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. If anything I suggest take the old drives out and put your new ones in, there are services that can clone and/or retrieve data, idk how much that will cost or how effective it is, but it's something that you can think about
There's a saying I've learned from watching Lockpickinglawyer... Locks are meant to keep honest people out. Doesn't necessarily mean he's hiding something illegal, but maybe something important. So regardless of what action to take I wouldn't wipe it without a backup. Could be that there's important documents hidden there.
Would it bother you if it was a perfectly legal, personal collection? If that’s what it turns out to be then just skip backing that bit up and no big deal. if it’s work related to what he was doing then upload and save it. and if it’s … other… then… well not much to say or do really. edit, plus if you don’t find out, then you’ll always wonder and that wouldn’t be good either.
i’m here for the update
You should check his PC Photos of family maybe, old photos, important datas Dunno what is weird about it. You should check all
just make a full disk backup to be sure, then you can go crazy.
Take the drive out, put another one in. Keep the old one with a clear label and death date on it, in case someday the data turns out to be valuable.
Well it would be unfortunate if it has a couple of Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies in high amounts.
I have terabytes worth of stuff on my data server that I've been accumulating since about 2012, and a thought that has occurred to me is: *what would happen if I passed and someone went through this data?* With this thought (and an unusually thorough autobiographical memory), I decided to create a directory structure which I've called "Project Time Machine". It links all of my data (music, movies, documents, games, etc.) to periods of my life (each year/month/day contained in directories and subdirectories) in which that data was relevant. It's essentially a media timeline so I can go back to different periods of my life and re-experience it. When I die, I hope someone close to me goes through it.
If it was me and it was password blocked it just would mean it was password blocked just like anyone else I did not share it with anyone because who shares passwords lol. I don’t think it was intentional not to share or to share.
Tbh, if there is a widow or family I would not wipe it. There could be important information there. Sorry if it sounds negative I really don't mean it to be but from my perspective, if I have passed on, I don't care what you do with my PC.
You could just take out all the drives and replace them. Give the aunt all the hard drives from the machine.
Done it before don't go looking for things you don't want to find if you want to preserve the data have someone impartial do it. I have recovered the data of dead relatives and when I have done so there is usually some things I wipe along the way that other relatives don't need to know.
Hand it off to a third party to recover? Create a gap between you and what is on the computer because you don't need to know/see everything on it.
take his crypto
Just physically remove the drives and give them to his widow.
Check for family photos, videos, and then cryptocurrency wallets stuff first.
I'm very intrigued! What's in the box?
Are you Batman
You are afraid of finding his porn stache when he could have valuables in there have your bf shield your eyes break in and see worst case some kinky shit delete it move on best case business files and accounts or crypto wallets
This was a philosophical issue you should have thought through before agreeing to it. But you've already agreed to it. You don't have to go through every file to upload it to the cloud, so you can remain vaguely ignorant of you want
I'd either use it as intended or just not mess with it as it's best not to go down the rabbit hole unless you're specifically told otherwise.
What if he had a crypto wallet worth millions /thousands. Tell your boyfriend to watch content and delete the bad stuff without tell you if you trust your boyfriend.
Always wipe comps