I am fairly experienced but far from expert.
I have been concerned about shadow copies for a while, and as far as I can see, they should be deleted if I delete the system restore points. This, of course would leave everything since the last one still insecure so I have been creating a new on, and then deleting the old. Finally wiping the free space.
I am now wondering if this actually works, and would appreciate it if anyone could either reassure me, or advise me of a better method.
- What do you mean by "VSS or Shadow copies" ? Because the VSS Service creates those "Shadow copies". When Windows creates a System Restore Point (SRP) then Windows uses (starting in Vista ? XP ?) the VSS Service to create that SRP.
- Yes, when you delete a SRP with CC(leaner) then only a part of that SRP is deleted. There's a MSDOS command (VSSADMIN) that can wipe one or more complete SRPs but I would advice against using it, unless you're very well aware of what you're doing.
- I wouldn't be too concerned about having more than one (partial) SRP. It gives you more flexibility to go back to a previous state. I actually increased the amount of space that Windows can use for those SRPs.
- If you really want to safely wipe all SRPs then you should use the CC option "Wipe Free Space" and let it run until it's finished. Deleting those SRPs is not done intentionally by CC but it's a result of how Windows manages disk space. When you're running low on diskspace then Windows starts deleting one or more SRPs in order to create more diskspace.
Thank you willy.
So if I delete all the old SRPs and then wipe the free space, no one will be able to 'see' what I have been doing?
Yes.
But using the "wipe free space" option can take a long time, especially when you have a (very) large disk.
So if I delete all the old SRPs and then wipe the free space, no one will be able to 'see' what I have been doing?
with the right software, time and motivation, it is amazing what can be recovered - despite your best 'wipe' efforts.
don't wipe to often or your Hard Drive WILL die a quick, painful and early death.