Quote:
Originally Posted by dlish
im sure most of you savy tech people know this, but by deleting something from your computer, it doesnt actually mean that the file still isnt on your computer. you've only deleted a shortcut to it. thats the best i can describe it.
maybe someone else cares to elaborate on this?
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The computer writes a line of 0s over the first byte of the file. It's like covering the first letter of a book's title in black ink to save yourself ink and time, but to let you know the paper can be recycled. The recycling bin is like putting it in an actual recycling bin before getting rid of it, and undeleting is like erasing the ink.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deltona Couple
Other than using a file cleaning program, pretty much anyone with some tech savvy can recover accidentally deleted files.
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Anyone who can search for "file recovery" and install a free trial can do it. My mom has done it. Writing over data once with all 0s or random data will keep your files safe unless you've made enemies with someone who has an electron microscope and a lot of free time. Three passes is unrecoverable, and the NSA does something like 34 because the chance is so low that something will be readable, even with a lot of problems writing to the disk.
Before you get rid of a hard drive, run the three-pass mode of
Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and drill it.