Reverend Blue Jeans

With all due respect, it shouldn't be this difficult to securely delete files. And CCleaner should have a simpler interface so that users don't have to worry about whether they deleted files "this" way or "that" way, using "this" tool or "that" tool or "this" menu path or "that" menu path. There should just be one simple, direct way of shredding files (including MFT entries) and that's it.* And it should work. (That is, make the files completely unrecoverable on the first try, period.) ______________________________ * (As opposed to, for example, the situation that Augeas describes: "Secure File Deletion does not wipe the MFT; that is for the Wipe Free Space option. Either run a WFS, with the drive selected, Wipe MFT checked, and WFS checked in Cleaner/Windows/Advanced, or wipe free space using Tools/Drive Wiper (wipe MFT is automatic in Drive Wiper). From reading the above I don't think you've done the correct combination of checks to get a wipe MFT done.")

This is confusing. Please forgive my ignorance (and my persistence!) but I think the Recuva documentation needs to be better-written, better organized, better-explained, and better-coordinated with CCleaner’s documentation. Augeas says “CC can change file names because it can rename them before deletion, in the same way as any user can. Recuva (and any software running under Windows) can't rename a deleted file nor amend the file name in the MFT as the file system will not allow access to protected metafile data.” Not really sure why if Recuva can recover a deleted file, it can’t also rename it. But what's really confusing is that it appears that CCleaner both CAN and CANNOT securely delete filenames and/or files that have been deleted: On one page of Recuva’s documentation, it says “Secure overwrite [in Recuva] does not affect file names, which continue to exist in the MFT (Master File Table). In order to overwrite names of deleted files, please use the Wipe MFT Free Space option in CCleaner.” (http://www.piriform.com/docs/recuva/using-recuva/advanced-mode/securely-overwriting-your-files) And in CCleaner's documentation, it says “For privacy and security reasons, you can set CCleaner to wipe the free areas of your hard disk so that deleted files can never be recovered.” (http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/wiping-free-disk-space) But then another page in CCleaner’s documentation says “CCleaner can only securely delete files which have not yet been deleted from the Recycle Bin. If you have already deleted files insecurely (for example, using Windows Explorer), you can delete them securely using Recuva.” WTF??? All I want to do is securely delete all my “deleted” files, including their filenames. That’s it. Why is that so hard?

Well, I've gone back and re-read all the relevant documentation in excruciating detail. It's disorganized, poorly-explained, and inconsistent, but it appears that I have two choices, neither of which are ideal: 1. Securely delete all my deleted files using Recuva, but can't securely delete the filenames, or 2. Wipe the free space on my hard drive, which WILL securely delete the filenames, but will also overwrite acres of empty space on my hard drive that doesn't need to be overwritten, all of which will take about 13.7 billion years. Seems strange that Recuva, with all its highly touted features, doesn't have any way to wipe the MFT, as CCleaner does.

According to Recuva's documentation (under "Secure file deletion"): "Note: When CCleaner securely deletes files, it renames them with all Zs in the file name (for example, ZZZZZZZZ.ZZZ) for increased security. Since Recuva is recovering files that have already been deleted, it cannot change their names before it overwrites them." Huh? I don't understand that. Can someone explain that to me? (I'm not really interested in recovering files anyway. I just want to completely, permanently delete them -- filenames and all. I don't see why Recuva apparently can't overwrite filenames the same way it overwrites the file data itself. Especially if, as the documentation implies, CCleaner is apparently able to do so.)

Okay, say I have a 1TB hard drive. (And for the sake of simplicity, let's assume that all 1,000 GB are available for use.) And I have...oh, let's say 150GB currently used. And finally, let's say I have 50GB of deleted files that haven't been "securely" deleted. So there's 850 GB of free space, including 800 GB of disc space that has never, ever been written on. I want to securely delete (wipe) those 50 gigs of "deleted" files. But I don't want to waste a lot of time (and unnecessary wear and tear on the drive) overwriting the additional 800 gigs of "virgin" space that has never been written on. Am I correct in assuming that CCleaner's Drive Wiper cannot distinguish between disc space that has been written on and "virgin" space, and will just go ahead and overwrite the entire 850 gigs of free space whether I like it or not?