If I enter data into my laptop and "Save As" to external flash drive, will data stay on hard drive?

Question

For example, will sensitive data stay on hard drive, in OS or program memory, and be retrievable in future by third party?

Answer 1

It will stay there unless you save MOVE not COPY.

Even then if you want to really be sure it is gone (and not just hiding from the directory) you would need to run a specialized program to wipe that file out. You probably also need to make the choices that erase cache, erase temp files, and erase Internet search history.

Only keep it on the flash drive and keep that physically secure. Never save a copy on the hard drive.

Answer 2

No, the main difference is that a flash drive is more portable. You can fit it in your pocket usually, and they only have a fraction of the storage of a USB hard drive. Think of a flash drive as an over size floppy disk, something you might put a few photos on to bring to a friend, or put a paper on to bring somewhere to print. In terms of backing up wii data, I am not sure how big your files would be, but think of it this way - the hard drive will probably hold the equivalent of multiple flash/jump drives. ON the other hand you can by a flash/jump drive for around ~$20USD. I would start with one of those and if you fill it up go find an external hard drive. Look somewhere like Best Buy or CompUSA, they usually have 1GB flash drives on sale for about $25 USD

Answer 3

There is really no perfect way to prevent data from being written to your hard drive. The basic design of a windows Operating System running a FAT32 or NTFS hard drive geometry, makes use of information in RAM to pad the end of a file. Any application like WORD or EXCEL that is open when this padding occures can result in having it written to the end of a file as padding. Any good forensic software can read this padding and many times recover the information.

All that being said, some programs like CyberScrub and WindowWasher, when used regularly can wipe these padded spaces and in most cases prevent this type of data from being recovered. However even if the data can't be recovered the registry will keep information regarding the fact that you used a USB device, and will most likely keep the most recently used filenames that were moved to the device.

Answer 4

While it may be temporarily stored in your computers memory it won't stay there forever unless you also save it on your laptop. If you should ever sell your computer in the future you'll want to be sure and empty out any computer logs or temporary folders along with any other sensitive data. There are also programs available that will wipe out data so it can't be recovered.

Answer 5

Possibly. Most programs use temporary files to store data while the program is running. These temporary files can stay on your laptop after the program has been closed. So yes, even if you save the files to a USB key, there can still be copies left behind.

Answer 6

Data will be saved as you ordered the computer to do.

Answer 7

No