How can I be sure that something I delete from my computer is totally gone?

Answer 1

Remove the hard disc drive
dig a 25ft deep hole at the end of your garden
smash the hdd into dust with a sledgehammer
sprinkle the hdd dust into the 25ft deep hole
fill with concrete
then move home
and change your name

or use http://www.ccleaner.com
and set the options to clean it 7passes
then download http://www.recuva.com
and see if whatever you have deleted is recoverable
both programs are by piriform and both programs are good and they are free or a donation if you wish to do so

Answer 2

Most hard drives(HD) are magnetic, even though flash hard drives are now a reality.

Most HDs use a encoding scheme of manipulating the north and south magnetic particles to represent one and zero(Data) on the drive. (Note there are other encoding options).

The reason people are saying that you can never really delete the data on your hard drive is because a hard drive just overwrites old deleted data with new data when it is available.

See when you delete a file the Operating System(OS) will flag that file's bits and make it seem as if it is gone. But in reality it's still there just waiting to be over written with new data.

The HD's heads never hit 99.9% the same spot on the disk(called a platter) every time it preform a read and write operation. This means that with the right tools someone can come back and reconstruct that previous data. Even if it has been over written with new data. This how people like http://www.datarecoverygroup.com or http://www.actionfront.com recovery lost data.

There is more to it then this but this does give you a basic idea of it is done.

There are tools like killdisk that can zero out a drive and do a low level format which is said to delete all data on the drive. But I'm sure the FBI still has the resources to recover data from use of such a program. Best thing to do is destroy the hard drive. The FBI has spawned a new field called computer forensics that is all about this type of stuff.

Answer 3

If you are using Windows, the program Eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/) is quite good and is free.

If you are using linux, use "shred [filename]" from the terminal.

Usually, a computer will simply erase the listing in the disk's directory and mark the file's location as free space, rather than being occupied. The file will remain there and can be recovered. Secure deletion methods like those above not only erase the directory listing, but also overwrite the file's location with various combinations of data (psuedo-random data, patterns of 1s, 0s, or other such masking techniques). This generally renders the file unrecoverable by normal means, but some highly advanced methods (occasionally employed by the FBI and other such agencies) may still be able to recover data so erased.

If you're being pursued by the FBI, you probably have bigger things to worry about, so Eraser or shred will almost certainly meet your needs.

Answer 4

The short answer is that you can't. In fact unless you have special software the information can be recovered using other specialised software so if you dispose of a computer without removing the hard drive and either destroying it or having it professionally cleaned there is every chance that someone could access your files even after it has been written over. The reason is that files are not physically erased they are only written over - eventually, and not necessarilly in any particular order!

Answer 5

With today's modern software it is possible to recover full messenger conversations, emails and passwords etc even after they have been deleted or the hard drive re- formated.
The only way to be sure that the information is completely gone is to smash the hard drive up fully.
Andy

Answer 6

If you have sent the file to the recycle bin,run Ccleaner and in the options make sure you set it to 'secure delete NSA 7 passes' also you need to do a 'disk cleanup'computer>properties>run disk cleanup, then next delete your system restore points,as the file/folder will be saved on your backups.

Answer 7

Simply deleting the file won't do it.

There's a program called FILE SHREDDER that will make file recovery difficult.

Download it free at the web site below:

Answer 8

i dont think you can totally delete anything off your computer. my grandpa told me that and he works with computers for a career. it has to go somewhere. it just cant disappear into thin air.

Answer 9

you can`t ,all delete does is tell your computer when it needs to it can over write that section of your hard drive .hope this helps

Answer 10

I usually use Privacy Keeper. You can download it here: http://www.privacy-keeper.com/

However, to be totally and absolutely certain, you would need to literally remove the hard drive, hammer it to pieces, and only then will you be rest assured.