Is there any way to REALLY delete a file?

Revolt

Revolt

Revolt

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29 Nov 2010
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196
By REALLY I don't just mean emptying your recycling bin. I realise that some programs and data recovery companies can retrieve so called 'permanently deleted files'. Apparently windows just puts an '0' infront of the coding or something to hide it although the content has been deleted. I want to know if you can delete the hidden files too. I have heard if you use an industrial magnet on the hard drive it deletes it all, is that true? Also, formatting the hard drive doesn't get rid of the information. I just wondering as it seems the only way to actually destroy your data is to actually destroy your hard drive.
 
Low level formats where the data is overwritten numerous times with random data is probably the easiest way.
 
Kill Disk

or

A commercial program I've used before in work, Blancco, which is right up there with all the US Gov and MOD standards. Not really an option unless you like reinstalling/re-imaging your boot drive all the time.

Must ask, why are you so concerned about REALLY deleting stuff?
 
d_brennen said:
Kill Disk

or

A commercial program I've used before in work, Blancco, which is right up there with all the US Gov and MOD standards. Not really an option unless you like reinstalling/re-imaging your boot drive all the time.

Must ask, why are you so concerned about REALLY deleting stuff?
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That might be quite useful if you want to sell a drive to someone that you don't want looking up your old files.
 
Mr Krugga said:
That might be quite useful if you want to sell a drive to someone that you don't want looking up your old files.
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Aye, data disposal is my game among others :) Blancco is great because of their server software - pxe boot and wipe. Keeps track of drive serials, erasure reports, asset tag data etc - full traceability. Not cheap when done on an industrial scale I might add
 
A full format from Vista onwards will also zero the drive making any recovery impossible, if you use any wipe software you only need the one pass of zeros or whatever. There are lots of programs that will wipe free space (CCleaner for one) which will complete remove any deleted files without you needing to wipe the whole disk.
 
AbsenceJam said:
A full format from Vista onwards will also zero the drive making any recovery impossible, if you use any wipe software you only need the one pass of zeros or whatever. There are lots of programs that will wipe free space (CCleaner for one) which will complete remove any deleted files without you needing to wipe the whole disk.
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There are some techniques at the hardware level that makes it possible to recover the latent magnetic patterns from magnetic media, but this is not a technique that those of us with limited means can use, more for Governments and their Agencies. The 'US Government' approved mutiple pass techniques do cover the trail of most data, it's just a matter of how paranoid you are.
 
malcolm said:
There are some techniques at the hardware level that makes it possible to recover the latent magnetic patterns from magnetic media, but this is not a technique that those of us with limited means can use, more for Governments and their Agencies. The 'US Government' approved mutiple pass techniques do cover the trail of most data, it's just a matter of how paranoid you are.
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No there aren't. Read up, it's only theoretical, no practical possibility of it ever recovering anything and even less so with each new generation of HDD's.
 
I remember I once had a program that would wipe the HD with 32 passes of 0's and 1's. However, I think I decided it was overkill, so didn't bother reinstalling when I built my new computer.
 
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