Question

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I know that on the windows operating system, when you delete a file it's still recoverable. I'd like to avoid simply paving the harddrive with zeros as I would like to keep my OS installation as is, but is there a way to truly delete files that have been previously deleted?

edited Sep 1 at 20:57

Lance Roberts
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asked Sep 1 at 20:35

Joel Martinez
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100% accept rate

emgee · Answer 1 · 2009-09-01 20:38:26Z

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Eraser

You want to choose the wipe free space option.

answered Sep 1 at 20:38

emgee
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	Didn't know Eraser had that option - good choice! – Dan Walker Sep 1 at 20:41
	excellent choice. +1 – Molly7244 Sep 1 at 22:22
	Thank you, Eraser looks wonderful. I just wiped a whole load of files from my computer and was about to post a question, when whola! there you go, there's an answer just right there! – ymasood Sep 1 at 22:28

joshhunt · Answer 2 · 2009-09-01 21:38:19Z

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Actual CCleaner should do it with Gutmann secure file deletion and "wipe free space drives" enabled!

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edited Sep 1 at 21:38

joshhunt
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answered Sep 1 at 21:29

NoCanDo
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That's going to take sometime. Isn't DOD-level deletion (3 passes) enough for secure deletion? – Isxek Sep 1 at 21:52

That depends on your needs. The CIA might still be able to recover data after 3 passes. A while ago I read that it was possible to restore data after 7 deletes. – Christian Sep 1 at 22:00

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Ture paran...err...security knows patience ;). – NoCanDo Sep 1 at 22:03

A maximum of 5 passes (10 for CIA) of random data should really be enough. Gutmann himself has said`^W`written that his 35-pass wipe is completely pointless on today's disks - different bit encoding, higher densities, and so on. – grawity Sep 8 at 13:09

A single zero fill is enough. news.softpedia.com/news/… – Robert Harvey Sep 18 at 3:34

Phoshi · Answer 3 · 2009-09-01 20:38:37Z

Keep using your PC. After, say, a week, there'll be nothing left to recover. The only times when recovering is really, really effective is when people get their hands on drives that were just quick-reformatted and then sold, nothing else done to them.

Fork · Answer 4 · 2009-09-01 21:35:48Z

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Have you tried File Shredder?

answered Sep 1 at 21:35

Fork
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Dan Walker · Answer 5 · 2009-09-01 20:40:46Z

There is a program called Prevent Restore, but I have never used it and never heard of the author, so I can't vouch for its quality.

CCleaner has the option to securely clear the Recycle Bin and Temp files, but not those that you have already deleted.

Meiko · Answer 6 · 2009-09-08 12:56:04Z

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You can always checkout www.fileshredder.org They have an option to shred non localized disk space.

answered Sep 8 at 12:56

Meiko
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Is there a program to truly delete all deleted files?

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