Clear free space
Solved/Closed
EspeciallyInMichigan
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jo -
jo -
Hello,
So yesterday, I already posted a topic like this, but I found the solution.
Finally...
I downloaded CCleaner, and I see that we can erase the free space on the hard drive.
Which means that if, for example, I deleted an .avi file from the recycle bin, it is still present on the computer.
But if I erase the free space on the hard drive, then no one will ever be able to recover it, right?
Yes, that's right ^^.
Except that when I start the free space deletion, the memory on my hard drive keeps decreasing, and I had gotten down to 3GB of memory left on my hard drive!!
So I stopped the operation on CCleaner, and then my hard drive regained all its memory.
I saw this by going to the desktop and refreshing, and it kept decreasing continuously!
I am on Vista
So, any answers to this weird thing??
Thanks!!!
So yesterday, I already posted a topic like this, but I found the solution.
Finally...
I downloaded CCleaner, and I see that we can erase the free space on the hard drive.
Which means that if, for example, I deleted an .avi file from the recycle bin, it is still present on the computer.
But if I erase the free space on the hard drive, then no one will ever be able to recover it, right?
Yes, that's right ^^.
Except that when I start the free space deletion, the memory on my hard drive keeps decreasing, and I had gotten down to 3GB of memory left on my hard drive!!
So I stopped the operation on CCleaner, and then my hard drive regained all its memory.
I saw this by going to the desktop and refreshing, and it kept decreasing continuously!
I am on Vista
So, any answers to this weird thing??
Thanks!!!
Configuration: Windows Vista Safari 530.5
9 réponses
Hello
I downloaded CCleaner, and I see that we can wipe the free space on the hard drive.
No, CCleaner does not delete the free space; it can clean it.
This means that if, for example, I delete an .avi file from the recycle bin, it is still present on the computer.
But if I wipe the free space on the hard drive, then nobody will ever be able to recover it again,
If you delete a file from the recycle bin, only the file name and the address on the disk where that file is written are removed from the "table." The file itself is still on the hard drive; the location is only marked as "free space." The file will be deleted the day another file is randomly written to that location by Windows.
What does CCleaner do when it cleans the free space?
It simply writes over the entire free space on the hard drive, filling it with a huge file that takes up all the free space, which explains why the free space reduces to 0 during this operation. Then this file is removed from the "table," and the freed space is declared free space again.
This time, there are only 0s and 1s written by CCleaner in the free space on the hard drive, with no trace of the old files left.
What are "passes" and why multiple "passes"?
Technically, a 0 or 1 on the hard drive is a small "magnetized" location at a certain level for 0 and at another level for 1. Rewriting over it modifies but never absolutely to the same value this magnetization.
A very expensive device can measure very precisely the slight differences at each location on the disk, and a very complex mathematical program can attempt to guess what might have been written on this disk before deletion.
The more times you rewrite over it, the harder it is to recover a deleted file. CCleaner can therefore rewrite multiple times when it deletes (multiple passes). 35 passes is a number considered sufficient by the U.S. military for data wiping!
No one will ever be able to recover it again.
Well, a specialized laboratory, for a lot of money, can still read some things. There aren't many hard drives containing secrets that justify more security than these 35 passes of rewriting.
And then Windows and other programs like Word keep traces everywhere; file recovery software manages to reconstruct a file even when there’s really nothing left where it was on the hard drive.
I downloaded CCleaner, and I see that we can wipe the free space on the hard drive.
No, CCleaner does not delete the free space; it can clean it.
This means that if, for example, I delete an .avi file from the recycle bin, it is still present on the computer.
But if I wipe the free space on the hard drive, then nobody will ever be able to recover it again,
If you delete a file from the recycle bin, only the file name and the address on the disk where that file is written are removed from the "table." The file itself is still on the hard drive; the location is only marked as "free space." The file will be deleted the day another file is randomly written to that location by Windows.
What does CCleaner do when it cleans the free space?
It simply writes over the entire free space on the hard drive, filling it with a huge file that takes up all the free space, which explains why the free space reduces to 0 during this operation. Then this file is removed from the "table," and the freed space is declared free space again.
This time, there are only 0s and 1s written by CCleaner in the free space on the hard drive, with no trace of the old files left.
What are "passes" and why multiple "passes"?
Technically, a 0 or 1 on the hard drive is a small "magnetized" location at a certain level for 0 and at another level for 1. Rewriting over it modifies but never absolutely to the same value this magnetization.
A very expensive device can measure very precisely the slight differences at each location on the disk, and a very complex mathematical program can attempt to guess what might have been written on this disk before deletion.
The more times you rewrite over it, the harder it is to recover a deleted file. CCleaner can therefore rewrite multiple times when it deletes (multiple passes). 35 passes is a number considered sufficient by the U.S. military for data wiping!
No one will ever be able to recover it again.
Well, a specialized laboratory, for a lot of money, can still read some things. There aren't many hard drives containing secrets that justify more security than these 35 passes of rewriting.
And then Windows and other programs like Word keep traces everywhere; file recovery software manages to reconstruct a file even when there’s really nothing left where it was on the hard drive.
