Hi Everyone!
I need to get rid of all the zzz files that CC Cleaner created. I know the files are unrecoverable but they are a clear indicator of having deleted files using CC Cleaner.
Anyone know how to do this?
Thanks!
I believe they only appear if CCleaner fails to complete, normally due to User impatience or Windows falling over.
I am not aware of any problem deleting them.
You can either delete them manually, or run another Wipe Free Space and this time let CCleaner finish uninterrupted preferably at a time you won't need to use your computer for awhile.
Assuming that we're talking about deleted files, I believe that the ZZZ files are created during secure file deletion or Wipe MFT, not WFS (which uses a different format of file name).
You cannot explicitly delete them, as they are legitimate file names in the MFT. When a file is securely deleted the data is overwritten, the file name changed to ZZZ, and the file then deleted. If a Wipe MFT is run then enough small files are created with the ZZZ file name to fill the MFT and then deleted. They are in the same state as any other deleted file.
Depending on how many you have, you could try to replace the ZZZ file names with other less easily identifiable file names. You could create a folder and copy into it the Firefox cache (for instance). Then see how many ZZZ file names Recuva shows. Continue creating folders with lots of files until Recuva shows no ZZZ files, then delete the folders. This is duplicating CC's processing, but don't run CC whilst you're doing it. If you are seeing ZZZ files in a Recuva Deep Scan then the job is harder, and I wouldn't even try to do it.
Of course the next time you run some sort of secure deletion you'll end up with more ZZZ file names. It's not a crime to delete files securely, yet.
Thanks Augeas - I'll give that a try. To the other posters - thank you too but I did let the process complete.
Assuming that we're talking about deleted files
Ah, I completely read it wrong and thought it was a Wipe Free Space issue.