Where do all your documents go when you remove them from the recycling bin?

Answer 1

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.

Hope this answers your question!!

Answer 2

they dont go anywhere, they are still in the same place on your hard drive as they were before you deleted them.
the recycle bin gives you a chance to restore any wrongly deleted file, once removed from recycle then you need a prog to recover them again.
contrary to belief, windows does not physically delete a file, it simply tells itself to ignore the file as if it was not there.
the only real way to delete a file (even a format, the file will be there unless that part of the disk is written over) is to use a top end prog and this will fill the disk with '0's and '1's many times.
this is how it is 'easy' to find out exactly what people have been using the pc for and which web sites they visit etc.

Answer 3

They are removed from the File Allocation Table so that nothing knows where they are. They are technically still on the hard drive, but there is no pointer to let Windows know where it is located.

Answer 4

Basicly, i wondered this too, but anyways, lol when you delete a file it simply rewrites that file in a smaller size,

in the "Geek" world we have mathamatical names for diffrenet file sizes like Bits,Bytes,Kilobytes,Megabytes,Gigabytes,Terabytes and so forth,

basicly if your doing something illegal you need to simply rewrite that file and save it a couple of times, to rewrite the original file, but i suppose you work for a corporation if your asking this,

A program that overwrites a file 10 times to increase security

AVG ANTISPYWARE 7.5

oh and the name of your file is saved in a thing geeks like me call the registry,

try for yourself, But i warn you that you can damage your system if you dont know what your doing so follow my instructions.

click start/run
type in regedit
press Crtl-F
type in your filename like CONFENDENTAL
and youll see it there,

others you can find by clicking search for files and folders and typying in

*.* .txt
or if your dealing with pictures

*.* .jpg

this is how the fbi usually finds your stuff.

Anyways hope i didnt confuse you!

Answer 5

They remain on Ur HD with the 1st charc removed until they R written over.

Answer 6

they go nowhere they still where they always were till u defrag or use the memory space again...u can get programs to restore things u hav deleted but they only work if u not overwritten them..

Answer 7

They stay forever on your hard drive. If you restore your pc to a time before you deleted them, by using system restore, they will be there.

Answer 8

They don't really go anywhere. They stay where they are until you overwrite them. Someone who knows how can resurrect those files.

Answer 9

they are technically still there ... the "markers" get deleted for the files ... until they are overwritten by new data the info could technically still be recovered ...