Question about how Windows uses the Recycle Bin & Secure Deletion.?

Question

Question in short:
Does windows actually move the files into the bin or mark them in their original position on the drive?


Question in vague ramblings:

I understand the basics of how the recycle bin works and how windows allocates the files in the bin using the info.txt files. However, it has occurred to me - does windows actually move the files into the bin or mark them in their original position on the drive? If the files are moved then it is an easy recovery from two positions. This is important for secure deletion of files.

I also am guessing regardless of how windows uses the recycle bin files, I could still recover info from an old info.txt file by examining the drive. Perhaps one can relocate a recycle bin or fix it in a location on a drive - ie move it to a flash drive......

Answer 1

It does not need to physically move the contents of a file. When moving a file from one folder to another folder, it does not need to physically move the contents of a file. That does not rule out that in some cases, the developers of windows felt it was best to move the contents.



You should create a large text file with a unique start and a unique ending. Then delete it to recycle bin. Then run a data recovery and see if two copies show up.



Next link had one issue I did not realize. "The Recycle Bin only stores files deleted from hard drives, not from removable media, such as memory cards and floppy disks. It also doesn't store files deleted from network drives."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycle_Bin_(Windows)



And another issue I did not realize. If you hold down the shift key and hit delete, it bypasses the recycle bin. Now I can see why some newbies might feel the need to hold down the Shift key when using Delete key because for Task Manager you do crtl shift delete. That explains some questions that appear on this Yahoo Answers when people claim they deleted something but did not show up in the recycle bin. In the 80s, all you had to do was remove where a file started to delete it.



Some other interesting reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycle_bin_(computing)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_deletion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_manager

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/LocFileSys.mspx

Next one might have your answer buried in the history of the recycle bin.

http://www.datalifter.com/tutorial/tutorial.htm



There are Microsoft Newsgroups. Some Microsoft gurus will scan questions from time to time.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/reader.mspx?query=recycle+bin&dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.general&cat=en-us-ms-winxp&lang=en&cr=US&pt=&catlist=B0DE109D-10E1-4C3C-BCC9-8EB7A22FC6A0&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-us



That was just on XP.

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx

It is probably the best forum for your question.

Answer 2

the thing about recycle bit when you delete something It was not completely erased forever it's just mark as deleted As you know You still can recover the file but If the file was written over that means it will be less likely to be able to recover.

secure deletion is when you delete something It will be deleted but then it will be overwritten many times eg Simple overwrite= it will be over written once Gutmann 35 pass = overwrite 35 times

as you know secure deletion will make sensitive files less likely to be able to recover(Less changes that it will recover)

Answer 3

i use ccleaner on max ---- in the setting --- i have it set when i shut off ---- options / settings ----35 passes