Gigabot
OSNN Senior Addict
- Joined
- 12 Dec 2008
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A lot of people believe that when they empty their deleted files from the Recycle bin then these files are permanently deleted from their hard drive. They're wrong! According to Microsoft (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/315672?):
So how exactly do you permanently delete your files that you don't want other people to get their hands on? Microsoft offers a free command line utility called SDelete. You can use SDelete to securely delete all your files.
To learn more about SDelete and how it works see this article:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx
When you delete files or folders, the data is not initially removed from the hard disk. Instead, the space on the disk that was occupied by the deleted data is "deallocated." After it is deallocated, the space is available for use when new data is written to the disk. Until the space is overwritten, it is possible to recover the deleted data by using a low-level disk editor or data-recovery software.
So how exactly do you permanently delete your files that you don't want other people to get their hands on? Microsoft offers a free command line utility called SDelete. You can use SDelete to securely delete all your files.
Using SDelete
SDelete is a command line utility that takes a number of options. In any given use, it allows you to delete one or more files and/or directories, or to cleanse the free space on a logical disk. SDelete accepts wild card characters as part of the directory or file specifier.
Usage: sdelete [-p passes] [-s] [-q] <file or directory>
sdelete [-p passes] [-z|-c] [drive letter]
-cZero free space (good for virtual disk optimization).-p passesSpecifies number of overwrite passes.-sRecurse subdirectories.-qDon't print errors (quiet).-zCleanse free space.
To learn more about SDelete and how it works see this article:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx