bjones
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The funny thing about erasing computer files is that there is no such thing as erasing computer files. It simply can’t be done. If you take your hard drive to a factory, they may be able to demagnetize the discs, taking all the information off, and then reset the discs so they are like new, but it is cheaper just to destroy and hard drive and buy a new one, so this is never really done. To make the process of erasing data simple, it helps to think about each file carrying a flag. When your computer searches for a file, it finds it by locating its flag. If more than one file is needed to carry out the file’s purpose, the file will tell the system which flag the next file is flying, and so on.
Windows systems actually have several layers of deletion. When you delete a file in Windows, it is not erased. It moves to the recycle bin. The file just changes the folder in which it is located. If you empty the recycle bin, you may think you are erasing the file, but you are not. All you are doing is removing the flag. When you need to save a new file on your hard drive, your system looks for sectors without flags. So the data just gets overwritten with new data. If nothing ever gets saved to the space containing the deleted file, it is still there. In many cases, traces of the original file may still remain even after something else is written over it. You can find specialized software that searches for files without flags. The software will put flags back on the files so they can be recognized and used by the system again.
 Posted 5361 day ago
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