where are they hidng?

Question

I know that even when you send files to the Recycle Bin and empty it, the files are still around somewhere. Where are they? will they show if you search your computer and show all hidden files/folders?

I'd like to know what folders the files are in. I don't want to recover them; if I delete something I want it gone for good.

Answer 1

Using the description you offer in your question, the files aren't "hiding" at this point -- they've actually been deleted.

When you "delete" a file in Windows, Windows will simply move that file to the Recycle Bin. When you empty the Recycle Bin however, Windows removes the file from the file system. Assuming you're not running something like "Norton's Protected Recycle Bin" the file is no longer visible to normal applications and it isn't "hidden" either.

At this point, we enter the realm of data recovery. The hard drive of a computer can be thought as a large map grid. The grid has coordinates just like any other maps and there's a catalog of what is located where in that grid. When Windows empties the Recycle Bin, it clears a part of the catalog entry for the file but does not touch it's actual position in the grid. SO, the data is still on the drive but the catalog entry pointing to it is partially obliterated. At this stage, the file is most easily recovered.

Now, as you continue to use the system (and this includes simply turning it on), the catalog entries are overwritten. The data is commonly still on the hard drive BUT it's not so easy to get back any more because all the info on what it was, where it was, and it's size has been wiped out. If the file was fragmented, you might find part of it easily but the rest could be who knows where. This is a much more complicated recovery.

Lastly, the actual data will also eventually be overwritten. This happens simply as a factor of use. Once this happens, the data is simply not recoverable by any reasonable means (as in, means anyone but the government could possibly afford).

As long as the actual data has not been overwritten, there is software available that can aid in the recovery. If the data is important, you'll want to engage the services of a data recovery specialist to ensure the most complete recovery.

Bear in mind that the very installation of data recovery software will in fact overwrite portions of the catalog and grid; in other words, if you need to recover data off the same drive you're currently using, then you could sabotage those efforts by simply installing the software to do the recovery. This is where data recovery specialists come in handy.

HTH...!

Answer 2

Here's how it works:
First, here's what happens when you save a file. The file gets written to the hard drive and the operating system "write protects" the physical area of the hard drive that file is stored on, so that nothing else can be written in that space because that space is being occupied by that file.

When you delete a file, it doesn't get removed from the hard drive, all that happens is the operating system removes all pointers to it and "un write protects that space". Meaning it will now allow something else to be stored there. The file itself is now hidden from the operating system. The only way to completely remove the file is to write over it. Meaning something else has to be stored in the same space the "deleted" file was in. It's kind of like something that's been recorded onto a VHS tape. The information on the tape is still there until you record something else over it.

Showing hidden files and folders won't reveal a deleted file, that is for showing files that are hidden from normal view, but haven't been deleted.

File recovery software just simply looks on the hard drive and grabs all the information that is on the disk. "Deleted" files will show up because they are still there...until written over.

Answer 3

When you delete files or folders, what happens is the FAT entry is deleted, but it is stored in the Recycle Bin Database, when you empty the Recycle Bin, the database is wiped.
If you have Norton Undelete (or a similar app) and have NOT added or saved any new files or folders, you can recover the data, but if you HAVE added or saved any new files or folders, then few, if any, files or folders will be recoverable.

Don't tell me you have NTFS, or EXT2, or what-ever, because no matter the name or under-laying tech it's still a "file allocation table", every comp ever made, and every OS, uses a "file allocation table" to allocate disk space for your files or folders

Answer 4

The hidden thing only refers to files windows doesn't think you need to mess with, just as a precaution.
I know they can trace even deleted files on the hard drive, even when it's been layered over, but have no clue how that is possible or how it works.
As far as I know, for the mere mortals, it's a goner once deleted.

Answer 5

Recovering deleted files
http://www.aumha.org/a/recover.php
---------------------------------------------
To determine what files are recoverable and delete or recover them:

Drive Discovery 2.34 (free for 30 days)
http://www.download.com/Drive-Discovery/3004-2248_4-10641143.html?tag=tab_scr
Analyze the hard disk to see what files and data can be recovered. Can either recover these files or securely delete the files.

or

Restoration
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,23108-order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.html
Recover deleted files--or delete them for good--with this small program.

or

Sure Delete (files)
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,22393-order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.html
http://www.webmasterfree.com/suredelete.html
Sure Delete helps you get rid of the data that remained on your disks from the contents of previously deleted files for good.


--------------------------
Easing history or files so they can not be recovered

CCleaner: Do not install toolbar and recycle bin options
http://www.ccleaner.com/
In options:
-Set to run when the computer starts
-Removes tracking cookies, unneeded files, items in recycle bin, browsing history, etc.
-Choose secure file deletion (if you do not want the files to be able to be recovered)
-Place cookies you want to keep in the save list.

Spybot - Search & Destroy
http://www.spybot.info/en/download/index.html
Mode > Advanced mode> Tools > Secure Shredder
Right click on white area to add files to the list or drag files into the white area. Set number of erasure passes. Click on"Chop it away" button
---------------------------------------------------------------
Secure wiping of entire hard disk so information can not be recovered

Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN)
http://www.download.com/Darik-s-Boot-and-Nuke/3000-2092_4-10165154.html
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=61951&package_id=58479&release_id=439240
DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.

WipeDrive by White Canyon
http://www.whitecanyon.com/


Active@ Kill Disk - Hard Drive Eraser (Free version/ $29.95 enhanced version)
http://www.killdisk.com/
Active@ KillDisk - Hard Drive Eraser is powerful and compact DOS software that allows you to destroy all data on hard and floppy drives completely, excluding any possibility of future recovery of deleted files and folders. It's a hard drive and partition eraser utility.

Answer 6

They will show if you search your computer and show all hidden files/folders and then you will see most or all of them!

Answer 7

Try a data recovery program.