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A question asked of me recently was "Does deleting a file really delete it, and if not, how can you delete it?" The answer to the first part of the question is "no!" When a file is written to disk there is a "flag" set that says "this area is in use, do not disturb." When you delete the file, the "flag" is reset, saying in effect "this area is free and can be reused." The data remains until it is over written. There are utilities that can be used to retrieve any data on these free areas.
The second part of the question was how to delete it so that it cannot be recovered. If you want to delete files so you can pass your computer on to some else, there are two free methods: 1) Use your restore disks to reload the operating system to what it was when you bought the machine;
2) Delete all of your files, and then run the
following two programs in order. They are located at the following
location: The first program is Disk Cleanup. This will empty your recycle bin, and get rid of all files that you no longer need (in fact you probably did not need them in the first place). Be sure that all boxes are checked. The next program is Disk Defragmenter. This program re-arranges your disk to a more efficient pattern and in the process will probably overwrite the areas where your data is stored.
Neither method is absolute, but unless you have the secret Swiss bank account number of Donald Trump, no one is likely to spend the hundreds of hours necessary to try and recover your data.
For those of you with Swiss bank accounts your solution is found at: http://download.cnet.com/Permanent-File-Delete/3000-2094_4-175685.html or just Google "Permanent File Delete". After using this free program it will take thousands of man hours to recover your data.
Next month I will cover techniques that should make the most paranoid of creative Income Tax preparers sleep easy.
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Computer Classes are Cancelled
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"CAN YOU GUESS WHO THIS IS?”
We have a glamorous photograph of someone you know well – Who is it?
Answer to June's photo: Katy Rose
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