delete

Hello Guest,

The data always remains on the Hard Drive, until it is overwritten.

When you first "Delete" something, it gets a "Flag" (Which prevents the Data from being overwritten) removed, and thus automatically becomes Data in the Recycle Bin.

When you "Delete" the contents of the Recycle Bin, the next "Flag" is removed, and now the Data can be overwritten.

The Data remains on the Hard Drive, though, and even if overwritten by later Data, the Edge Sectors may be read, because it is not possible to overwrite exactly on the same identical magnetic domains as the earlier Data was written on, due to expansion/contraction of the mechanical parts, due to thermal differences.

This is how a forensic Computer Analyst can read what remains on the Hard Drive, after months or years after it was "Deleted" then "Deleted from the Hard Drive".

For safe overwriting of Data on a Hard Drive, specialist Utility Software is used, which places random data and ensures all Sector Edges are overwritten.

This type of Software normally overwrites 35 times, or more, and each Writing of random Data pass across the Hard Drive, scrambles the magnetic domains further.

Hope that assists you.

Kind Regards....

When you format a disc it is divided into sectors and a fat, (File Allocation Table). The purpose of the fat is to keep track of the addresses of files stored in the sectors. A file is stored in many different sectors, each with its own address. When you delete a file the first character of that files name is removed and put in the bin. The computer can recover that file by re-inserting the first character, but if you delete the bin then all characters are removed. So when you have so called deleted the file it is only the addresses that have been removed, the data is still in the sectors but can be over written by other files, if these sectors are not over written, then they can be recovered at some future date. Thats my under standing of it I hope it helps.

Regards JD.