Comments for How does Windows delete files, and what can I do to keep my files secure?

Comment from Ryan on 2008-07-30

2008-07-30T23:04:40Z

i've seen programs that recover files deleted from the windows recycle bin.....so most of the time you won't have to worry about expensive file recovery

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A comment on: How does Windows delete files, and what can I do to keep my files secure?

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Comment from Nicholas Gimbrone on 2008-07-30

2008-07-30T20:33:24Z

Word (and some other applications) also have the ability to "save updates", which also means that the original data would still be present.

In addition, some applications do a "save" by a slightly different pattern of: copy the original file to a temp file; re-write the original file; erase the temp file. This is sometimes done to preserve "other" characteristics of the file.

Many file systems will indeed allocate a new block for any writes rather than overwriting an existing block, unless the file was explicitly opend for "update in place" (when such support exists in the file system).

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A comment on: How does Windows delete files, and what can I do to keep my files secure?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Chuck on 2008-07-29

2008-07-30T01:27:03Z

Hi Leo -- Been reading your stuff for 5 years, at least. It is the only tech email I always open and read. So: Thank You! Nice work!

As to TrueCrypt: Thanks to you I tried it and it is just as good as you said it would be. It is the answer for the enquirer in the above text. Thanks for the tip.

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A comment on: How does Windows delete files, and what can I do to keep my files secure?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.