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| Thread ID: 39067 | 2003-10-26 08:28:00 | Files not deleted | Alastair Mansell (4778) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 186738 | 2003-10-26 08:28:00 | I have recently deleted a couple of big (13GB) files. The files have disappeared out of the directory but judging by the lack of space on my hard drives they are still there in spirit. I'm using Win2000 and got a message about them being too big for the recycle bin, did I want to permanently delete them? to which I answered yes. I have run scandisk which seems to think they are there too. Any ideas please? Alastair Mansell |
Alastair Mansell (4778) | ||
| 186739 | 2003-10-26 11:34:00 | So you want them permanently deleted or recovered? When you empty the recycle in it does not erase the file properly, it just marks the space as clear so it can be overwritten by something else. So you can actually recover files with some fairly basic programs. Try a defrag, or something like Eraser for windows, and tell it to wipe the freespace on the drive with 0's, then you will really have the free space. |
PoWa (203) | ||
| 186740 | 2003-10-27 07:48:00 | Hi Alastair Welcome to PF1. Once you bypass the recycle bin and your files are deleted by Windows they are gone for all money. The space is now available for use on your HDD. Defrag will make very little difference to your available disk space and sorry PoWa, neither will any utility that writes to your disk to wipe any evidence of the deleted files. Are you running any other software such as Norton Utilities? The Norton protected recycle bin catches files deleted through Windows and stores them elsewhere on your disk. Right now there are 183 deleted files protected by Norton on this computer and 1542 on my other computer (or there were, I just dumped them). If you can still see the files, they were not deleted. Give us some more info about why you think you can still see them on your HDD and we'll take it from there. Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 186741 | 2003-10-27 21:29:00 | Billy T I am running Norton but the files don't show up there either. I have a 74 GB drive and a total of about 10 files on it totaling no more than 20GB. However all of the windows utilities/defragger etc report that I have 50GB used and twentywhatever free. The defragger (disckeeper 7) shows rather large fragmented files on the disk which cant be defragged. Its these that I am guessing are the undeleted files. Anything else I can let you know to help you help me? Cheers Alastair |
alastair@work (4779) | ||
| 186742 | 2003-10-27 23:21:00 | Got system restore or similiar program turned off like Goback? Deleted temporary files? I suggested to wipe the freespace on the drive with 0's because that actually recovers free space better than emptying the recycle bin. Try it some time. Sure with some money and a purpose it may still be recoverable, but thats not the point of this exercise. And, BillyT if you think overwriting many times like 35+ Gutmann standard will not delete something permanently and still allow it to be recovered, I have one word for you: "dreaming". Maybe include it in this weeks wtfwe. Or else you could come up with some proof of your dream, maybe a software program or device made by the people in Nevada that will recover the data. Would love to see it :^O |
PoWa (203) | ||
| 186743 | 2003-10-28 00:11:00 | Sorry to burst your bubble PoWa, but I too have read an artiicle about this, concerning the secret squirrels in the States. They use some kind of instrument that will detect the different magnetic signatures of each part that can be written. Every time you write something to your hard drive, even in the same spot, gives a different magnetic signature. Admitted, it is only economical and practical for Government department or big industry to utilise. But even so, it can be done, which BT has pointed out. |
Pheonix (280) | ||
| 186744 | 2003-10-28 02:32:00 | >And, BillyT if you think overwriting many times like 35+ Gutmann standard will not delete something permanently and still allow it to be recovered, I have one word for you: "dreaming". Maybe include it in this weeks wtfwe. Or else you could come up with some proof of our dream, maybe a software program or device made by the people in Nevada that will recover the data. Would love to see it :^O Sorry PoWa, you lost me there. I didn't say anything about recovery of overwritten files in my reply to Alastair. ?:| I think you just suffered a serious rush of blood to the keyboard there. It is always a good idea to read posts carefully before allowing righteous indignation to take charge of proceedings. :D Returning to the point at hand, can you tell us anything about the files the defrag can't handle Alastair? Like, how many there are etc. You could also have a decent accumulation of temporary internet files too but they would defrag ok so that is not a likely option. Your paging file (Windows swap file) will not defrag either, but that should be only a few hundred MB, not a load of GBs. The most likely answer is that you have some protected files present and they will relate to something on your PC like GoBack or Norton protected files. You say you have Nortons installed, but that is a catch-all name for a raft of Symantec programs so what do you actually have there? Is it Systemworks or just NAV for example. You might need to use a DOS boot disk to look at your HDD to see what is not showing on your normal explorer view, or a file manager like ZTree that lets you look at everything, even files without extensions and the stuff that Windows tries to hide. It all sounds very curious and rather unusual. Cheers Billy 8-{) [pre][b]And the gnomes in Nevada or wherever can read the original files using an electron microscope to read the orientation of the magnetic domains on your disk PoWa. They can read several layers back, because in electron microscope terms, the heads never quite track over the exact same path, and the magnetic field also writes outside of the allocated track area. Differential magnetisation between 0s and 1s allows recovery of data from almost any disk. That is why incineration or physical destruction is the only safe bet for the paranoid. That's a loose description, I'll see if I can locate the original article for you, but it is too big for WFTWE so I'll try and find another word for you instead. ]:) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 186745 | 2003-10-28 20:48:00 | Problem solved! I had a dig around and unhid the hidden files and there was a Norton Recycle Bin chocka full of stuff. I dont actually remember putting it on, probably went on a couple of years ago when I built the machine and loaded Speed disk (now ditched). Sorry I missed the obvious and thanks for the help. Seem to have stimulated some interesting discussion too. Regards Alastair Mansell |
amansell (1919) | ||
| 186746 | 2003-10-28 23:00:00 | :D on both counts. | Billy T (70) | ||
| 186747 | 2003-10-29 00:25:00 | It's well known that the best place to hide something is in plain view. :D I think some of the Sherlock Holmes stories were based on that idea. | Graham L (2) | ||
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