How To Permanently Delete Files
When you press the Delete key in Windows, it doesn't actually delete the file.
Instead, it just makes the disk space available for Windows to use again.
Which means anyone can undelete files from your hard disk.
Most of the time, this doesn't matter.
But there are occasions when you don't want other people to be able to read a file you've deleted.
Maybe the file contained commercially sensitive data about your company. Maybe it had your earnings on it. Possibly there were photos of you with your ex and you'd prefer not to be reminded of those days. Or it could be that you are selling your computer and you don't want anyone to be able to recover any of your files.
Files like your passwords and your log-in details for your internet banking need a secure method of deletion to make sure they really are gone forever.
Whatever the reason, there are times when you don't want other people to be able to see deleted files on your hard drive.
The safest way to delete files is to follow what the government does (at least when they're not simply leaving unprotected laptops around for anyone to read) and that is to delete the data over and over and over again. And then ideally smash the hard drive up into tiny little pieces.
But for those of us who have better things to do that continually pressing the delete key, fortunately there's software available to do the task instead.
Some people think that formatting a hard disk is good enough to erase all the files on it. But that's nowhere near secure deletion. Advances in forensic technology mean that experts can reconstruct your hard disk if it's "only" been formatted a few times.
OK, your average data thief isn't likely to have access to these kind of tools. But a few years ago, lots of things we now take for granted weren't available for next-to-no-cost either. Multi-million pixel digital cameras squeezed into cell phones for instance. This kind of technology is getting cheaper all the time, so it's far better to be prepared.
There are many different software programs available to securely delete files.
They range in price from free upwards. Whilst I'm usually happy to use free software, my trust levels don't stretch to file deletion. I'm kind of suspicious and wondering whether they've left in some kind of back door so that other people could still get in and see my deleted files.
My personal recommendation is Secure Delete, which is only a handful of dollars and comes with full support in case you need it (although it's pretty easy to use in my opinion).
Because Secure Delete will only securely delete files once you've bought it, it comes with a handy free utility which will undelete all those files you thought you'd deleted (scary!) so that you can delete them securely this time round.
Instead, it just makes the disk space available for Windows to use again.
Which means anyone can undelete files from your hard disk.
Most of the time, this doesn't matter.
But there are occasions when you don't want other people to be able to read a file you've deleted.
Maybe the file contained commercially sensitive data about your company. Maybe it had your earnings on it. Possibly there were photos of you with your ex and you'd prefer not to be reminded of those days. Or it could be that you are selling your computer and you don't want anyone to be able to recover any of your files.
Files like your passwords and your log-in details for your internet banking need a secure method of deletion to make sure they really are gone forever.
Whatever the reason, there are times when you don't want other people to be able to see deleted files on your hard drive.
The safest way to delete files is to follow what the government does (at least when they're not simply leaving unprotected laptops around for anyone to read) and that is to delete the data over and over and over again. And then ideally smash the hard drive up into tiny little pieces.
But for those of us who have better things to do that continually pressing the delete key, fortunately there's software available to do the task instead.
Some people think that formatting a hard disk is good enough to erase all the files on it. But that's nowhere near secure deletion. Advances in forensic technology mean that experts can reconstruct your hard disk if it's "only" been formatted a few times.
OK, your average data thief isn't likely to have access to these kind of tools. But a few years ago, lots of things we now take for granted weren't available for next-to-no-cost either. Multi-million pixel digital cameras squeezed into cell phones for instance. This kind of technology is getting cheaper all the time, so it's far better to be prepared.
There are many different software programs available to securely delete files.
They range in price from free upwards. Whilst I'm usually happy to use free software, my trust levels don't stretch to file deletion. I'm kind of suspicious and wondering whether they've left in some kind of back door so that other people could still get in and see my deleted files.
My personal recommendation is Secure Delete, which is only a handful of dollars and comes with full support in case you need it (although it's pretty easy to use in my opinion).
Because Secure Delete will only securely delete files once you've bought it, it comes with a handy free utility which will undelete all those files you thought you'd deleted (scary!) so that you can delete them securely this time round.
Secure Delete Software
Pressing the delete key doesn't really delete files. Anyone with a simple software program can recover them unless you've used software like Secure Delete to completely delete all trace of your sensitive files.
How To Delete Files You Didn't Know Existed On Your Computer
Windows stores lots of information on your computer.Some of this information is out there for you to see. For instance, press the Ctrl key and H together and you'll see all the sites you've visited in the last week or so.
Word and Excel store your most recently opened files.
This is normally useful.
But what about the other things Windows (and other programs) stores about you without telling you?
For instance, you might think that once you've cleared your history from Internet Explorer, it's gone. After all, you asked Windows to clear it and it says it's done so. But it doesn't tell you about a hidden file called Index.Dat which also stores your browsing history and - worryingly - isn't cleared at the same time.
Ouch.
Anyone who knows that Index.Dat stores your history can see where you've been browsing. So your kids or your boss or your partner will know. So will anyone else with access to your computer. In fact anyone with $20 to spare could get hold of a program like File Saver and recover all your "deleted" files.
Getting rid of this data is especially important if you're selling or giving away your current machine.
Handy stuff like remembering passwords, auto-completing information, all those useful everyday helpers are great. But my guess is that you wouldn't want to leave them on your machine for other people to use.
If you ever dispose of your machine, it's nearly impossible to work out what you need to do to clear all these different things by hand. Plus you'd rather start using your new computer than spend hours removing histories and other sensitive stuff from your old PC.
The best solution is to use software like secure delete to remove any files you don't want anyone else to get hold of and couple this with Evidence Blaster which will permanently remove files that don't get removed by secure deletion programs because you don't know how to delete them in the first place.
What Kind Of Files Do You Want To Permanently Delete?
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Secure Erase Utility
Simple Secure File Deletion Software
O&O SafeErase 3
Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 12/18/2009)
With just one click of the mouse you can securely and permanently delete files, folders and partitions. In Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2003, and Windows 2000, O&O SafeErase will protect your computer from the unauthorized access of others to your alleged deleted files.
Secure File Deletion Video
More About File Deletion
File deletion is a way of removing a file from a computer's file system.
The reasons for deleting files are
#Freeing the disk space
#Removing duplicate or unnecessary data to avoid confusion
#Making sensitive information unavailable to others
All operating systems include commands for deleting files (rm on Unix, delete/del in MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows etc.). File managers also provide a convenient way of deleting files. Files may be deleted one-by-one, or a whole directory tree may be deleted.
by GeoffWhite
There are times when you need to securely delete the files on your computer. Here's help on how to do this. (more)
