Augeas

CC does list what appears to be file names from temp int files and other places, rather slowly. It can't list all of them, if it did the analyse step would never finish. It then lists the files to be deleted, do you not get this? You can choose to show all of your IE temp int files in the list by selecting this in Options/Advanced settings. Do you do this?

No, you can't undo what CC did, not using CC that is. Assuming you have used CC to clear out the recycler (it isn't too clear from your post), then if you have chosen CC secure deletion with overwriting, nothing can be recovered. If you chose normal deletion then something might be salvagable. If you can live with it, don't do anything on your pc at all, use another. Just leave it turned on. If not, do as little as you can. Download Recuva onto another PC, use the portable version from the Other Builds page. Install this on a flash drive. Plug the flash drive into your pc. Scan for deleted items. You might be able to sort the results into path order (recycler being the path). In any event, try to sort into an order that will assist in identifying the deleted files. If found, get restoring, to another flash drive. Occasionally copy off the restored stuff to somewhere safe. XP and Vista handle deleted recycler items differently in how they are named. If you can't find the deleted files under their proper names then search for them as DCxx.ext, where xx is an ascending number, in XP: or $Rxxxx .ext, where xxx is random, in Vista. Or maybe report back here (using the second pc!). Good luck.

Spot on. Some users seem to want a foolproof data remover - I don't think that any cleaner is that.

If you couldn't store temp int files then I guess that you wouldn't be able to browse a single web page. Can you still browse? Try cutting and pasting your temp int file folder to another location and name, and then have a look inside that. It should show you everything, unlike Explorer which seems rather reticent to display all. I cant see any internal folders in my temp int files. I don't know why your pc's behaviour has changed, though.

It's all down to the vagaries of the English language! 1) CC treats all files the same. All files have an entry in the MFT, the majority of the files will have the file data on the disk outside of the MFT zone which the MFT entry points to, and some small files will reside completely in the MFT. CC doesn't know the difference and just cleans what you've asked it to do, no matter where the files are. It's not possible to tell CC to clean or not clean the MFT only. 2) When a file is deleted its entry in the MFT is not removed but flagged as being deleted. These deleted entries are reused when new files are created. If you don't delete any files, either by not using CC or other software or simply not deleting them, then eventually all the deleted entries will be overwritten, so any embarrassing name will in time go. (Then you can clean up!) 5) I have never known CC to not rename or not overwrite a securely deleted file. CC will overwrite the file data of the current live version, there may well be older copies left over from edits, defrags, etc, as well as all the things that Windows does. I would not put too much importance on Recuva's guess at the state of the file, it's only software after all. Just scanning with Recuva will not alter the state of the files. Whether you should secure delete them or not is up to you. Personally I don't bother except for a very few really important files (financial stuff and the like). I don't think that anyone is interested in the other 20,000 or so files. It's not worth getting paranoid, I doubt if I am of any interest to the rest of the world. PS All this is only my guess how CC and Recuva works, probably the Piriform developers are sniggering up their sleeves.

1) CC will (if the option is chosen) overwrite files in the MFT and anywhere else, and rename them to ZZZ.ZZZ. This is because it can do the overwriting and renaming before deleting. Recuva cannot overwrite or rename already deleted files which are resident in the MFT because it is unable to modify deleted MFT entries. The files in the MFT are deleted from a normal Explorer point of view just as other deleted files are, but are never actually 'deleted' from the disk. Deleted files in the MFT can be recovered, overwritten or not. 2) Yes, in the majority of cases. If you have a file right at the furthest extension of the MFT, and there are plenty of available slots before that, then it may be some time before it it overwritten, if ever. If you have a particularly nasty file you want to be overwritten, just don't cleanup until it goes. 3) Small files can fit into the MFT in their entirety. The MFT does not separate file header info from data, so if it can fit into the MFT entry then it will (can't remember tech MFT details at the mo). Larger files will use sectors on the disk outside of the MFT zone. 4) No. If a file entry in the MFT is flagged as deleted it will be handled as deleted, i.e. ignored. Another cookie or whatever will be created, maybe even in the same MFT slot! 5) Yes and No. CC will, as mentioned in 1), rename, overwrite and delete any file, just as anyone can. Recuva can overwrite any non-MFT files, but it can't rename them because it can't modify the MFT entry. The actual data overwrite option is identical, that is zeroes or whatever option you chose.

If only we knew what criteria Recuva uses to rank the files. It doesn't try to open each file, there's not enough time for that. It isn't just whether the file has some of its clusters overwritten, as Keith shows. Some length/parity checks?

OK. Try running CC Clean and then run Analyse, check that it shows no temp int files, then open IE and see if it shows any temp files. If it does then return to CC and run Analyse again. Does CC now show some temp int files to be deleted? If yes than pehaps opening IE pulls some stuff down over your broadbean connection. Do you have a web home page, or feeds, etc? If no then something puzzling is going on. Do you recognise the temp int files?

I've just tried this on a smaller file (don't have a larger file, don't have many .wmv files at all): delete, recover and play. Worked fine. XPSP2 Home, Rec 1.19.350.

Good point Davey. Arley, if you run CC and then immediately run CC analyse, what does CC say about temp int files to be removed?

When you look at your temp files with IE do you see some, or thousands, of files? Do you look for temp files immediately after running CC, or do you wait a while? Do you have a home page that is web based? Do you close IE and other browsers when you run CC? Do you have anythig retained in CC's exclude section?

Certainly not, I'm trying to maintain some dignity here.

There's perhaps too much there to comment on! People use their pc's in widely varying ways and have widely differring needs. I'm really a very basic CC user, just run it twice a week when I feel like it, don't use the recycler, don't use an ini file, don't want CC to run on shutdown/startup, etc, so most of your suggestions would be wasted on me. I just want CC to sit there and shut up until I tell it to do something. I would like the secure delete option in a context menu, though.

Not with Recuva. You could allocate a mass of files called cleaned_0001.rcv to cleaned_whatever, and then delete them. The allocation will use the spare entries in the MFT and overwrite the old names. Personally I wouldn't bother. The majority of them will go as you use your pc anyway.

You didn't read the comments then? I think that 'rubbish' would be a fair summation.

I've no idea, why not try it?

Whilst cookies will keep your name and userid, I don't think that any internet banking system will keep your login info - i.e passwords etc. - in a cookie, and certainly not in an html page. I use a manager such as Egg Money (there are others), which holds all internet account login info for Egg and non-Egg accounts securely, and then logs on for you. The only problem is that after a few months you forget what the original login info was, so you have to keep that somewhere secure off pc.

The only things I can think of are: You are highlighting files to be deleted but not positioning the cursor over the highlighted files when r/clicking and selecting secure delete highlighted files (better to use check box to select files). The files you are trying to delete are small and live in the MFT (but there would be an error message for these). You are scanning non-deleted files and trying to delete these (not allowed).

Possibly becaue even with an apparently simple question it is sometimes difficult to interpret the poster's actual meaning. When I run CC in Analyse mode I get a list of cookies marked for deletion, along with other files. I then press Run Cleaner and the list remains, with the word 'Removed' against them. If I rerun Analyse, or close CC then reopen and run Analyse, the cookies have gone. I do need to have closed FF though to run CC. This is normal behaviour to me. Is this what you mean?

I concur. I think that many - perhaps the majority - of non-casual CC users like to be in control of their pc. If only there was a piece of software that introduced two new keys, marked 'Stop that immediately!' and 'Just do as I say, dammit!' I would be happier.

Yes, my 'latest' vers gives the same info, 212.651. I've just downloaded again and reinstalled and it's now 212.660 (but there has been a minor upgrade in the meantime). I can't say I've noticed any difference, apart from going up 9 thou.

So do I, except for CC and Recuva, which sit in My Docs. One-off downloads also go in My Docs. I dunno, elbowing in when I'm posting. 'So do I' is an answer to the original post. Bah!

Have you just pressed the Analyse button, and not the Run Cleaner button?

Zut alors! Ceci est juste le etaler.

Hi Ms Kicket, settings are a personal preference of course, I try to run clutter-free (ish) so I ony choose Desk Top and Start Menu. Some use the recycler options, but Yahoo is not what you would call popular here. You can always add these options if you want to later. I've never seen a use for Auto-updates. Start minimal and add later, just like life, really.