How do computers delete files;do they really delete them or just tell you they are gone?

Answer 1

No, they just make the previously used space available for use again in the future. This is why forensic teams are able to find dodgy images that pervs have 'deleted' from their PC's.
To really get rid of stuff you will need to use a special program. You can get 'BCWIPE' for free trial from download.com. There are others, I think Norton (now Symantec) does one, and I am sure there are loads of others available for free. They offer solutions like a 'Government' wipe where the data is overwritten seven times with 1's and then 0's etc.. etc.. to make sure it is irrecoverable.
Hope this answers your question

Answer 2

It's actually quite simple. A file is just a collection of 1's and 0's written to hard drive that means something to some program, or the system's operating system.

In your typical scenario, there will be a file management utility (i.e. Windows Explorer) who show graphical icons for each file. What these are really are just "pointers" to the location on the disk that the file occupies.

When you do a simple "delete" on this pointer, you don't actually erase the pattern of 1's and 0's on the disk - though there are now utilities on the market that do that. Rather, this space is reallocated and freed up as additional Hard drive space, it may be overwritten at some point in the future.

A true "delete", such as done in a low level hard disk format, writes 0's over the entire segment of the disk.

The fact that true deletes do not occur are evident by tools that are capable of restoring files - even after you've tossed out your recyling bin. You will be able to recover the files, assuming you haven't written over that part of the disk.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

The operating system simply deletes the first letter of the file name and then ignores it. The data is still there but your computer can not find it.

That is why file recovery programs can bring back deleted files. Unless new data has been written on top of the old file the recovery program will locate it and restore it.

Answer 4

I don't know about other operating systems.....but Windows/DOS based systems do not delete files technically. When you "delete" a file windows flags it with special characters which tell the operating system not to display that file anymore. Eventually these files are overwritten by new files.....just not immediately. That's how programs like "UnDelete" work. They simply look through your hard-drive for files flagged with these special characters and give you the opportunity to recover them as long as they haven't yet been overwritten by windows.

Answer 5

For most pcs, no, the file just has the thingie (I don't know what it is called) removed that makes it unfindable by Windows. But a hacker or the FBI could find it. To TRULY delete a file, it needs to be "overwritten" many times; there are many programs that will do that for you, some of them are free.

Acadia

Answer 6

Generally, they just tell you that. They erase the pathway to the file and eventually will probably write over the file to get rid of it. However, if you want to completely erradicate a file that you are "erasing" you'll need a special program, such as Easy Tec Eraser. It writes over the file 100s of times until the original file cannot be read anymore.

Answer 7

In one sense they delete. The first stage may take it out to the recycle bin. The next stage may just remove it from the view of the OS.
To truly delete something, you need a fairly specific program. Most deletions do in fact delete it as far as you are concerned, but the deletion is not, shall we say, entirely complete

Answer 8

Nicolas: well as yourself knows alot or not very much here
yea an simple http://www.disk.clean-up.com would delet old files
also another type is just plain removed by clicking any icon that
has it Called '' Anti hacker program " refer http://www.antispyware.com ! remember dont delet new ones ok?

Answer 9

It depends on the filesystem and operating system that is being used.

Some do totally erase and some simply mark files as deleted.