How is a file recovered after being deleted?

[Tiger99]

I've got a question that's been nagging me for some time (mainly
because this is my first post)... Anyway, the question I have actually
has a few parts:

How is a file able to be recovered after it has been deleted and
emptied from the recycle bin? Also, what isn't the recycle bin doing
that would prevent the file from being recovered?

ALSO, I know there are programs that can recover deleted files, so how
does this process work and what is the best way to delete a file so
that it CANNOT be recovered?

Thanks for any replies,

- Mike

[Ramesh]

When a file is deleted, only the entry of the filename is deleted from the
index. The actual file resides in the hard disk. Third-party programs are
able to recover these files. If you want to delete the files securely, use a
third-party tool such as Norton's Wipeinfo, System Shield from www.iolo.com.

You can also use cipher.exe command to encrypt the file and delete it
safely.

--
Regards,
Ramesh
AOL: SRamesh2k

«·´`·.(*·.¸(`·.¸ ¸.·´)¸.·*).·´`·»
«.............. Ramesh ...............»
«·´`·.(¸.·´(¸.·* *·.¸)`·.¸).·´`·»

~ Please reply to newsgroup ~


"Tiger99" > wrote in message
om...
I've got a question that's been nagging me for some time (mainly
because this is my first post)... Anyway, the question I have actually
has a few parts:

How is a file able to be recovered after it has been deleted and
emptied from the recycle bin? Also, what isn't the recycle bin doing
that would prevent the file from being recovered?

ALSO, I know there are programs that can recover deleted files, so how
does this process work and what is the best way to delete a file so
that it CANNOT be recovered?

Thanks for any replies,

- Mike

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

There is nothing within Windows that will recover a deleted file after the
recycle bin is emptied. Hence, you are correct, it would require third
party software.

The recycle bin is essentially a holding area. People often delete files
accidentally which was one of the reasons why the recycle bin was created.
It gives a file and a user a second chance.

When the recycle bin is emptied, the area occupied by the file or files is
then marked available by the operating system. Theoretically, until the
area is overwritten, the file can be recovered intact by one of the third
party applications.

There is nothing that will absolutely, 100% ensure that a file is
permanently deleted without any possibility of recovery but you can make it
so difficult that only the FBI or people with extremely sophisticated
software can retrieve it.

They are called file shredders and what they do is essentially overwrite the
area occupied by the file a large number of times.

There are a number of freeware and shareware such programs. I use one of
the free versions called Eraser:
http://www.heidi.ie.

Click the link above, visit the site and click the link to Eraser on that
page. It will give you considerably more information about how it works
which should give you greater insight into the hows and whys.

To be clear about this, files are not actually shredded, erased or even
deleted. A deleted file simply loses it's place as the operating system
makes its area available to other applications. The file shredders,
erasers, etc. use various methods to overwrite the area several times to
make retrieval as difficult as possible but, as I said, almost never
impossible as long as you have access to the right tools.

Hope that helps.

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

"Tiger99" > wrote in message
om...
> I've got a question that's been nagging me for some time (mainly
> because this is my first post)... Anyway, the question I have actually
> has a few parts:
>
> How is a file able to be recovered after it has been deleted and
> emptied from the recycle bin? Also, what isn't the recycle bin doing
> that would prevent the file from being recovered?
>
> ALSO, I know there are programs that can recover deleted files, so how
> does this process work and what is the best way to delete a file so
> that it CANNOT be recovered?
>
> Thanks for any replies,
>
> - Mike

[Crusty \(-: Old B@stard :-\)]

Simple explanation:

The recycle bin is a safety net to hold deleted files for, a default of, 7
days. After the file has been removed from the recycle bin, it is gone,
unless you use more sophisticated, 3rd party, file recovery software. The 7
day default can be changed.

"Tiger99" > wrote in message
om...
> I've got a question that's been nagging me for some time (mainly
> because this is my first post)... Anyway, the question I have actually
> has a few parts:
>
> How is a file able to be recovered after it has been deleted and
> emptied from the recycle bin? Also, what isn't the recycle bin doing
> that would prevent the file from being recovered?
>
> ALSO, I know there are programs that can recover deleted files, so how
> does this process work and what is the best way to delete a file so
> that it CANNOT be recovered?
>
> Thanks for any replies,
>
> - Mike

[Alan]

Hi Michael,

In one of the newsgroups I once read a comment from a poster, who said that
his way of making totally sure that no one could ever read his hard drive
was to remove his hard drive and power-drill a bunch of holes through the
disk platters.

I suspect that even the FBI or people with the right tools would have
problems recovering data from a drive in that condition.

Alan

"Michael Solomon (MS-MVP Windows Shell/User)" > wrote in
message ...
> There is nothing within Windows that will recover a deleted file after the
> recycle bin is emptied. Hence, you are correct, it would require third
> party software.
>
> The recycle bin is essentially a holding area. People often delete files
> accidentally which was one of the reasons why the recycle bin was created.
> It gives a file and a user a second chance.
>
> When the recycle bin is emptied, the area occupied by the file or files is
> then marked available by the operating system. Theoretically, until the
> area is overwritten, the file can be recovered intact by one of the third
> party applications.
>
> There is nothing that will absolutely, 100% ensure that a file is
> permanently deleted without any possibility of recovery but you can make
it
> so difficult that only the FBI or people with extremely sophisticated
> software can retrieve it.
>
> They are called file shredders and what they do is essentially overwrite
the
> area occupied by the file a large number of times.
>
> There are a number of freeware and shareware such programs. I use one of
> the free versions called Eraser:
> http://www.heidi.ie.
>
> Click the link above, visit the site and click the link to Eraser on that
> page. It will give you considerably more information about how it works
> which should give you greater insight into the hows and whys.
>
> To be clear about this, files are not actually shredded, erased or even
> deleted. A deleted file simply loses it's place as the operating system
> makes its area available to other applications. The file shredders,
> erasers, etc. use various methods to overwrite the area several times to
> make retrieval as difficult as possible but, as I said, almost never
> impossible as long as you have access to the right tools.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> --
> Michael Solomon MS-MVP
> Windows Shell/User
> Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
> DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
>
> "Tiger99" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I've got a question that's been nagging me for some time (mainly
> > because this is my first post)... Anyway, the question I have actually
> > has a few parts:
> >
> > How is a file able to be recovered after it has been deleted and
> > emptied from the recycle bin? Also, what isn't the recycle bin doing
> > that would prevent the file from being recovered?
> >
> > ALSO, I know there are programs that can recover deleted files, so how
> > does this process work and what is the best way to delete a file so
> > that it CANNOT be recovered?
> >
> > Thanks for any replies,
> >
> > - Mike
>
>

[Dana]

"I suspect that even the FBI or people with the right tools would have
problems recovering data from a drive in that condition."

-Not that they wouldn't try!



"Alan" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Michael,
>
> In one of the newsgroups I once read a comment from a poster, who said
that
> his way of making totally sure that no one could ever read his hard drive
> was to remove his hard drive and power-drill a bunch of holes through the
> disk platters.
>
> I suspect that even the FBI or people with the right tools would have
> problems recovering data from a drive in that condition.
>
> Alan
>
> "Michael Solomon (MS-MVP Windows Shell/User)" > wrote in
> message ...
> > There is nothing within Windows that will recover a deleted file after
the
> > recycle bin is emptied. Hence, you are correct, it would require third
> > party software.
> >
> > The recycle bin is essentially a holding area. People often delete
files
> > accidentally which was one of the reasons why the recycle bin was
created.
> > It gives a file and a user a second chance.
> >
> > When the recycle bin is emptied, the area occupied by the file or files
is
> > then marked available by the operating system. Theoretically, until the
> > area is overwritten, the file can be recovered intact by one of the
third
> > party applications.
> >
> > There is nothing that will absolutely, 100% ensure that a file is
> > permanently deleted without any possibility of recovery but you can make
> it
> > so difficult that only the FBI or people with extremely sophisticated
> > software can retrieve it.
> >
> > They are called file shredders and what they do is essentially overwrite
> the
> > area occupied by the file a large number of times.
> >
> > There are a number of freeware and shareware such programs. I use one
of
> > the free versions called Eraser:
> > http://www.heidi.ie.
> >
> > Click the link above, visit the site and click the link to Eraser on
that
> > page. It will give you considerably more information about how it works
> > which should give you greater insight into the hows and whys.
> >
> > To be clear about this, files are not actually shredded, erased or even
> > deleted. A deleted file simply loses it's place as the operating system
> > makes its area available to other applications. The file shredders,
> > erasers, etc. use various methods to overwrite the area several times to
> > make retrieval as difficult as possible but, as I said, almost never
> > impossible as long as you have access to the right tools.
> >
> > Hope that helps.
> >
> > --
> > Michael Solomon MS-MVP
> > Windows Shell/User
> > Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
> > DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
> >
> > "Tiger99" > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > I've got a question that's been nagging me for some time (mainly
> > > because this is my first post)... Anyway, the question I have actually
> > > has a few parts:
> > >
> > > How is a file able to be recovered after it has been deleted and
> > > emptied from the recycle bin? Also, what isn't the recycle bin doing
> > > that would prevent the file from being recovered?
> > >
> > > ALSO, I know there are programs that can recover deleted files, so how
> > > does this process work and what is the best way to delete a file so
> > > that it CANNOT be recovered?
> > >
> > > Thanks for any replies,
> > >
> > > - Mike
> >
> >
>
>

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Unless he destroyed the entire hard drive, the answer is no. There are
companies that specialize in data recovery and from what I gather, while a
hard drive damaged in the fashion you suggest would not yield all its data,
it would yield some data and quite possibly what it didn't reveal could be
inferred or pieced together from what it did reveal. I assume the FBI could
do the same. I believe, you would have to completely destroy all the
platters in order to achieve complete destruction of data.

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

"Alan" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Michael,
>
> In one of the newsgroups I once read a comment from a poster, who said
that
> his way of making totally sure that no one could ever read his hard drive
> was to remove his hard drive and power-drill a bunch of holes through the
> disk platters.
>
> I suspect that even the FBI or people with the right tools would have
> problems recovering data from a drive in that condition.
>
> Alan
>
> "Michael Solomon (MS-MVP Windows Shell/User)" > wrote in
> message ...
> > There is nothing within Windows that will recover a deleted file after
the
> > recycle bin is emptied. Hence, you are correct, it would require third
> > party software.
> >
> > The recycle bin is essentially a holding area. People often delete
files
> > accidentally which was one of the reasons why the recycle bin was
created.
> > It gives a file and a user a second chance.
> >
> > When the recycle bin is emptied, the area occupied by the file or files
is
> > then marked available by the operating system. Theoretically, until the
> > area is overwritten, the file can be recovered intact by one of the
third
> > party applications.
> >
> > There is nothing that will absolutely, 100% ensure that a file is
> > permanently deleted without any possibility of recovery but you can make
> it
> > so difficult that only the FBI or people with extremely sophisticated
> > software can retrieve it.
> >
> > They are called file shredders and what they do is essentially overwrite
> the
> > area occupied by the file a large number of times.
> >
> > There are a number of freeware and shareware such programs. I use one
of
> > the free versions called Eraser:
> > http://www.heidi.ie.
> >
> > Click the link above, visit the site and click the link to Eraser on
that
> > page. It will give you considerably more information about how it works
> > which should give you greater insight into the hows and whys.
> >
> > To be clear about this, files are not actually shredded, erased or even
> > deleted. A deleted file simply loses it's place as the operating system
> > makes its area available to other applications. The file shredders,
> > erasers, etc. use various methods to overwrite the area several times to
> > make retrieval as difficult as possible but, as I said, almost never
> > impossible as long as you have access to the right tools.
> >
> > Hope that helps.
> >
> > --
> > Michael Solomon MS-MVP
> > Windows Shell/User
> > Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
> > DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
> >
> > "Tiger99" > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > I've got a question that's been nagging me for some time (mainly
> > > because this is my first post)... Anyway, the question I have actually
> > > has a few parts:
> > >
> > > How is a file able to be recovered after it has been deleted and
> > > emptied from the recycle bin? Also, what isn't the recycle bin doing
> > > that would prevent the file from being recovered?
> > >
> > > ALSO, I know there are programs that can recover deleted files, so how
> > > does this process work and what is the best way to delete a file so
> > > that it CANNOT be recovered?
> > >
> > > Thanks for any replies,
> > >
> > > - Mike
> >
> >
>
>

[Photoman]

That's why God invented fire

--



--------------------------------------------------------------------
.....lost in the overtones...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Michael Solomon (MS-MVP Windows Shell/User)" > wrote in
message ...
> Unless he destroyed the entire hard drive, the answer is no. There are
> companies that specialize in data recovery and from what I gather, while a
> hard drive damaged in the fashion you suggest would not yield all its
data,
> it would yield some data and quite possibly what it didn't reveal could be
> inferred or pieced together from what it did reveal. I assume the FBI
could
> do the same. I believe, you would have to completely destroy all the
> platters in order to achieve complete destruction of data.
>
> --
> Michael Solomon MS-MVP
> Windows Shell/User
> Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
> DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
>
> "Alan" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hi Michael,
> >
> > In one of the newsgroups I once read a comment from a poster, who said
> that
> > his way of making totally sure that no one could ever read his hard
drive
> > was to remove his hard drive and power-drill a bunch of holes through
the
> > disk platters.
> >
> > I suspect that even the FBI or people with the right tools would have
> > problems recovering data from a drive in that condition.
> >
> > Alan
> >
> > "Michael Solomon (MS-MVP Windows Shell/User)" > wrote in
> > message ...
> > > There is nothing within Windows that will recover a deleted file after
> the
> > > recycle bin is emptied. Hence, you are correct, it would require
third
> > > party software.
> > >
> > > The recycle bin is essentially a holding area. People often delete
> files
> > > accidentally which was one of the reasons why the recycle bin was
> created.
> > > It gives a file and a user a second chance.
> > >
> > > When the recycle bin is emptied, the area occupied by the file or
files
> is
> > > then marked available by the operating system. Theoretically, until
the
> > > area is overwritten, the file can be recovered intact by one of the
> third
> > > party applications.
> > >
> > > There is nothing that will absolutely, 100% ensure that a file is
> > > permanently deleted without any possibility of recovery but you can
make
> > it
> > > so difficult that only the FBI or people with extremely sophisticated
> > > software can retrieve it.
> > >
> > > They are called file shredders and what they do is essentially
overwrite
> > the
> > > area occupied by the file a large number of times.
> > >
> > > There are a number of freeware and shareware such programs. I use one
> of
> > > the free versions called Eraser:
> > > http://www.heidi.ie.
> > >
> > > Click the link above, visit the site and click the link to Eraser on
> that
> > > page. It will give you considerably more information about how it
works
> > > which should give you greater insight into the hows and whys.
> > >
> > > To be clear about this, files are not actually shredded, erased or
even
> > > deleted. A deleted file simply loses it's place as the operating
system
> > > makes its area available to other applications. The file shredders,
> > > erasers, etc. use various methods to overwrite the area several times
to
> > > make retrieval as difficult as possible but, as I said, almost never
> > > impossible as long as you have access to the right tools.
> > >
> > > Hope that helps.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Michael Solomon MS-MVP
> > > Windows Shell/User
> > > Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
> > > DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
> > >
> > > "Tiger99" > wrote in message
> > > om...
> > > > I've got a question that's been nagging me for some time (mainly
> > > > because this is my first post)... Anyway, the question I have
actually
> > > > has a few parts:
> > > >
> > > > How is a file able to be recovered after it has been deleted and
> > > > emptied from the recycle bin? Also, what isn't the recycle bin
doing
> > > > that would prevent the file from being recovered?
> > > >
> > > > ALSO, I know there are programs that can recover deleted files, so
how
> > > > does this process work and what is the best way to delete a file so
> > > > that it CANNOT be recovered?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks for any replies,
> > > >
> > > > - Mike
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>