deleting files doesn't work

Excuse me if I'm doing something wrong but I've scanned my hard drive with recuva and result was 45.000 files ready to recover or delete. I've deleted those files but then I ran a second scan and found out that those 45.000 files weren't really deleted as them appeared once again on the list.

So, my question: is this thing working for "safe delete" of files ?

thanks for your help and please forgive my lame english :mellow:

Recuva overwrites file data but does not remove the filenames from the MFT. Have a look at

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=20089&hl=

There's also more info at http://docs.piriform.com/recuva/technical-...e-file-deletion

:)

MrRon

Recuva overwrites file data but does not remove the filenames from the MFT. Have a look at

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=20089&hl=

I have also tried to secure delete items and found the same to be true

I then ran CCleaner to delete the items and when I ran Recuva the filenames were still there.

I thought CCleaner would put zzzzs in the filename.

This is the first time I have ever used these utilities so, even though I have read the info I may not be understanding it correctly..... Any help will be appreciated.

Is it true that neither CCleaner or Recuva will remove deleted file names from the MFT?

Not quite. If a secure deletion option is chosen in CC then the names of live files selected for deletion will be changed in the MFT to some variant of ZZZZ.ZZZ. If normal deletion is chosen then the file names will remain unchanged. Recuva does not, and I assume can not, change names of already deleted files in the MFT no matter what secure overwrite option is chosen. No names in the MFT are ever removed, they can only be overwritten.

Not quite. If a secure deletion option is chosen in CC then the names of live files selected for deletion will be changed in the MFT to some variant of ZZZZ.ZZZ. If normal deletion is chosen then the file names will remain unchanged. Recuva does not, and I assume can not, change names of already deleted files in the MFT no matter what secure overwrite option is chosen. No names in the MFT are ever removed, they can only be overwritten.

I just ran CC in the highest deletion option. It came back cleared on subsequent scans.

I then ran Recuva and it still shows the file names even though it says that the data is overwritten & unrecoverable.

I assume that I am doing something wrong but can't figure out what that may be.

You shouldn't be getting filenames back that have been recently deleted. Sort in last modified order and you should have a block of ZZZZs. Page down and you will come to files with their filenames that have been deleted by other means. Recuva will find files that have been deleted by means other than CCleaner of course, and also finds edit/move/install/defrag/etc copies that Windows makes.

If you do some testing and find that CC is not securely deleting your files, and you're sure that CC is doing the deletion, then post in the CC discussion area for help.

I have also tried to secure delete items and found the same to be true

I then ran CCleaner to delete the items and when I ran Recuva the filenames were still there.

I tried deleting files on two separate installs (Windows XP SP2 32 Bit & Window 7 Build 7000 64 Bit) of Recuva. The progress bar flashes and the dialog reports 0 files deleted. This happened every time :mellow: .

I tried deleting several other files and many at once, with the same results. I also tried recovering the files I just tried to delete and had no trouble recovering the files.

As a recovery tool, Recuva seems to work great for me, but I can't delete or secure delete anything.

I also use CCleaner and I didn't notice any files previously deleted (cleaned up) ...

I am using Recuva Version 1.23.389

I have no knowledge of Windows 7 but I understand it is still in beta testing stage. I wouldn't be too surprised if any proprietary software had a few glitches running against an O/S that hasn't been officially released yet.

Others have commented on Windows 7 and Piriform software, a search might help you.

Excuse me if I'm doing something wrong but I've scanned my hard drive with recuva and result was 45.000 files ready to recover or delete. I've deleted those files but then I ran a second scan and found out that those 45.000 files weren't really deleted as them appeared once again on the list.

So, my question: is this thing working for "safe delete" of files ?

thanks for your help and please forgive my lame english :mellow:

I have a similar problem, but it goes beyond just the file names. Using a Recuva deep scan, I found a large number of .png thumbnails. I have overwritten them using Recuva, wiped the free space using the latest version of CCleaner and wiped the free space using the latest version of Eraser (including the overwrite directory listing option). Other recovery programs no longer find them, but the Recuva deep scan still finds them including the ability to preview the thumbnails. What don't I understand?

As far as I know..

Recuva deep scan will also include the 'shallow scan' findings, which includes small files marked as deleted that reside entirely in their MFT entry. Using Recuva to overwrite deleted files will not touch these MFT entries.

There is not enough info around to tell what CC free space wipe really does. Does it wipe free space pointed to by deleted file entries in the MFT (speedy run) or does it manfully plough through the entire disk wiping every sector (slow run)? What does it do to the small entries in the MFT? These questions are rhetorical. Until more experience and reports are posted, and the documentation arrives, it's a bit of a guessing game.

I have no experience of Eraser at all.

As a small reassurance, the fact that some sectors on your disk have one pattern of bits (f'rinstance a .png file) rather than another pattern (f'rinstance zeroes or random noise) is no detriment to your pc or enjoyment of ilfe.

A little bit of documentation here

http://docs.piriform.com/ccleaner/using-cc...free-disk-space

Thanks, H. It doesn't say a great deal. It appears to say that it wipes the entire drive, but says nothing about removing filenames from the MFT (apart from very small files, which seem to be left alone). It's about time some free space wipe user posted what actually happens. Do filenames go? Can you still see deleted file data in the MFT - name, size, directory - even though the data is wiped?

Yet it can't just wipe unallocated sectors without reference, or being under the control, of the MFT management software. Imagine wiping a few sectors just as, or just after, Windows writes something really important there.