488896 files found?

start recuva

pop up box

stage 1 of 3: scanning drive for deleted files

current progress xx% of 488896 files found

I usually highlight everything knowing I have nothing at the time.

run recuva at a later time

files found at same number found or higher.

running v1.520 on windows 10

1) what does that number really indicate

2) does it mean my deletions are still there

3) does any kind of wipe make the number go down

thanks for thoughts, eauxmi

In NTFS there is a record in the Master File Table for every file created. When a file is deleted its record is flagged as deleted and is available for reuse by future file allocation. When Recuva runs a normal scan it reads all those deleted records in the MFT. That is where the count of 488896 comes from.

Although the deleted file records may point to the file data clusters, those clusters may have been overwritten or otherwise changed, so that the contents are of no use. It depends on how the files were deleted and what activity has taken place on your pc.

The number will change as the pc is used but it can't be reduced artificially. If Recuva said 0 records found it wouldn't be much good as a recovery tool.