I'd delete them if asked, out of respect for the relationship we once shared.
There are pictures of me out there that I'd prefer never came to light, but there's little I can do about that now.
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Originally Posted by ngdawg
Also, keep in mind that 'delete' doesn't eradicate them forever. I've reformatted and mistakenly 'erased' many files; I used a recovery program and obtained over 44,000 'deleted' files, more than half in original form.
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Yep. When you delete something, the computer marks that area of the hard disc as available. The file stays there, intact, until the computer overwrites that space, which may take a very long time.
Over time, it becomes harder and harder to recover as it gets overwritten. Defragmenting will accelerate this process somewhat, and reformatting does a more thorough, though not perfect job if done only once. Whenever we get rid of an old computer, we reformat the hard drive twice before anyone else gets it to prevent anyone getting our personal information.