When you delete a file on your computer where does it go?
2006-07-10 16:06:25 · 10 answers · asked by TheToolMan 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
When Microsoft introduced the Recycle Bin in Windows 95, it immediately became a failsafe for many users. If you delete a file and realize that you actually need it, you can recover it easily by doing the following:
* Open the Recycle Bin by double-clicking on the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop (or you can go to the Recycle Bin folder in Windows Explorer).
* Find the file you want to recover and click to highlight it.
* Go to the File menu and choose the Restore option (or right click over the filename and select Restore from the context-sensitive menu).
* The file is now back on your computer in its original place.
While the Recycle Bin is a great utility, there are times that a file is not placed in the Recycle Bin when you delete it. These include files from removable storage such as floppy disks and Zip disks, files deleted from within some applications, and files deleted from the command prompt. Also, there are times that you will empty the Recycle Bin and then realize that there was a file you wanted to keep.
A common misconception is that the data is actually removed from the hard drive (erased) when you delete a file. Any time that a file is deleted on a hard drive, it is not erased. Instead, the tiny bit of information that points to the location of the file on the hard drive is erased. This pointer, along with other pointers for every folder and file on the hard drive, is saved in a section near the beginning of the hard drive and is used by the operating system to compile the directory tree structure. By erasing the pointer file, the actual file becomes invisible to the operating system. Eventually, the hard drive will write new data over the area where the old file is located.
There are several utilities that you can find on the Internet that allow you to recover "deleted" files. What these utilities do is search for data on the hard drive that does not have corresponding pointer information and present you with a list of these files. Your chances of fully recovering a file diminish the longer you wait after you deleted the file since the probability that the file has been overwritten increases. Sometimes you can recover portions of a file that has not been completely overwritten
2006-07-10 16:14:05 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
It depends on how you do it. Once you delete files and empty the recycle bin, the files are flagged as deleted and the references to them are removed in the file system. Certain utilities have the ability to try to recover them. Some are more successful than others.
If you really want to delete a file, you can download free utilities to wipe the space used by the file first. Check www.tucows.com.
2006-07-10 16:11:52 · answer #2 · answered by oldmoose2 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have many mp3 files on the computer, You have made a playlist that plays all the mp3 files on your computer. Later you changed playlist by removing names of mp3 songs that you don't like. Removing songs from your playlist does not delete the mp3 files, correct?
Same thing with file structure, it's just at the lower level. Disk is divided by little segments and every segments has name(address). Data that is written to disk is kept tracked by operating system(windows) by its addresses. When you delete files, Operating system removes the address, thus you no longer see them. This segments are now available as free space. The data does not get destoyed, but since it's marked as free space. When you get new data, for example downloading programs which must be written in disk, it can be overwritten.
So if you ever deleted critical data, you must stop writing to disk and recover asap.
Hope it helps! :)
2006-07-10 16:25:17 · answer #3 · answered by Mozz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are programs that will complety remove the files from your drive. I use a program that a programmer wrote for me called DELDIR.COM. It deletes the file and then writes over it. No way to recover it. You should be able to find one at download.com or some other share ware site.
2006-07-10 16:57:47 · answer #4 · answered by Don K 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are still on your hard drive. All you are doing is deleting the pointers to those files in the MFT. They will still be there until they are overwritten by new data. That is why it is possible to recover files that have been deleted and emptied.
2006-07-10 16:10:20 · answer #5 · answered by EG345 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The files are still there. A few bytes or a few letters on the front of the file are changed, but the info is still there, until it gets over-written!!
2006-07-10 16:10:29 · answer #6 · answered by RICHY RICH 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
noplace.. they are still there... the only difference is that the first letter of the file name is changed to a code that means "this file has been deleted"... that is why people can recover deleted files.
2006-07-10 16:09:18 · answer #7 · answered by ♥Tom♥ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they are gone, man. When you delete your recycle bin, the files are GONE, they don't go anywhere, they are gone. That's the point.
2006-07-10 16:09:51 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
well they are still on disk but their listing is deleted so you cant see your files from windows...install any file recovery software available free on internet and you can see them again....
lax
2006-07-10 16:09:49 · answer #9 · answered by lax 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They remain on your computer's hard drive until something new is written over them.
2006-07-10 16:09:54 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋