Improve Better Cleaning, in CCleaner

[ACERman]

CCleaner has been Rated #1, for cleaning your PC of Debris, Tracking, Harddrive Space etc..

 

But it's NOT the best(that I have found) and other Software are in the same line.

 

For People like me to whom would like to Protect their Privacy etc., I have found that CCleaner even when you use the "Secure File Deletion - 35x" setting that Data can be recovered using "Recuva", which means that if a FREE Software can recover Deleted Data, it's NOT being erased "permanently" as people are assuming. Even items in the Recycle Bin can be recovered, in my opinion, that is NOT secure file deletion!

 

How, I know cus I've tried to cover Internet Browsing History, Deleted Recycle Bins items, & even Empty Space from the HD, all were recovered, in a matter of mins.

 

Needless to say that I am impressed with CCleaner, it does remove what it states But unfortunately NOT permanently

 

I would like to Suggest that there can be improvements to make sure that anything that is deleted, is permanently gone, and can't be recovered by any means, maybe change the "Secure File Deletion" settings from 35x to 100x or even unlimited. But make sure that it works, & permanently!

 

Keep uo the Good Work!

[marmite]

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showto...st&p=153432 ... and next few posts.

 

Have you actually been able to recover the same files that you believe you have securely deleted?

[ACERman]

Yes, I have.

 

The other day I deleted 10 pictures, 4 Videos & various documents. I used Recuva & after 5mins, I recovered eveything that I thought was "securely" deleted.

 

Which means if Recycle Bins can be recovered what about "Browsing History" or such.

[fireryone]

And you where able to successfully view and play said files?

[ACERman]

Yes, I was. The Pictures I could view, the Videos played without a hitch & the Documents could be opened, modified & resaved.

 

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not putting down CCleaner or it's creators, not at all. It's just strange that they are not being deleted & can be recovered.

 

I don't know if other people are experiencing this or not. But I thought I would bring it up.

[marmite]

The other day I deleted 10 pictures, 4 Videos & various documents. I used Recuva & after 5mins, I recovered eveything that I thought was "securely" deleted.

What folder were these pictures and videos in? Are you sure that these folders are being cleaned by ccleaner?

[ACERman]

They were located on the Main Drive, in a specific Folder. I specifically placed them in the Windows Pictures, Video & Document Folders.

So I know that they were deleted. No traces of any of the Files deleted were left behind.

[Augeas]

There is no concept of 'Not permanently' overwriting data. Nothing that has been overwritten, even once, can be recovered in its original state. CC tells the disk controller to write zeroes (or whatever) and it is written. If Recuva recovers that file it will recover zeroes. The disk controller must return what was last written to disk, not what was once there several writes ago, otherwise your pc would be junk.

 

If Recuva recovers data you think has been overwritten, then either the data wasn't overwritten in the first place or another copy has been picked up.

 

CC is, of course, primarily a junk clearer-outer, not a forensic data eraser, so some fuzziness to accommodate speed and ease of use is to be expected. Even if it did overwrite all that you asked it to do there would still be many dark corners of Windows holding your secrets.

[ACERman]

1st off, I'm not trying to hide any Secrets, regardless of what you might think.

 

I noticed this on my PC & I thought that I would mention it, cus it DOES happen & the Files are recovered in Full.

 

Either way, it's a Topic I thought might generate discussion not blame.

[marmite]

They were located on the Main Drive, in a specific Folder. I specifically placed them in the Windows Pictures, Video & Document Folders.

So I know that they were deleted. No traces of any of the Files deleted were left behind.

But why would you expect ccleaner to clean this folder? ccleaner is supposed to clear out junk ... not 'good' files. Unless of course you specifically added that folder location to ccleaner ... in which case it will delete all of your pictures and documents every time you run it.

 

No-one is doubting or criticising you - we're just trying to understand what's happening

[fireryone]

Either way, it's a Topic I thought might generate discussion not blame.

 

As it should, I (personally) meant no blame or attack

 

Just last time someone "claimed" ccleaner didn't erase the files, they hadn't actually "recuved" and opened the files, to fully test them.

 

Its 2am to am currently to lazy to test delete and recuva a file and verify for myself.

 

I'm sure the dev's will want as much info as possible so they can investigate it as well.

[Augeas]

No blame, Acer, I couldn't think of anything witty to put instead.

[ACERman]

My Pictures, Videos & Documents folder contains a large selection of Files in each.

What I meant to say is I deleted some from each folder(that I didn't need/want..) into the "Recycle Bin" which I have selected in CCleaner to Clean 35x, as well as my Browsing History etc..

 

What I found is after cleaning the Recycle Bin, I could still recover the files using Recuva, when I thought that they were deleted.

 

I do appreciate any help that I can get, just to understand more.

[Augeas]

First of all approx how much data was deleted from the recycler? Pics and vids are large. Secondly, how long did it take to delete them? Wiping a large amount of data 35 times takes time, so if the deletion went through in a few secs it's unlikey that they were overwritten.

 

Thirdly what are the properties of the deleted files (look at Info using Recuva)? Do the dates, folders and times match what you expect? If not they may be older copies from edits or other activity.

 

Fourthly do a controlled test with one newly named file, not necessarily large, and see if you can reproduce the problem. Run a CC analyse before the deletion to see if the file has been selected for deletion. Delete it and see what CC says regarding data deleted. run Recuva to see if you can recover it.

 

PS Files deleted from the recycler should be renamed by Windows. Files deleted by CC secure overwrite will be renamed zzzz.zzz. Did you find your files under the original names?

[marmite]

My Pictures, Videos & Documents folder contains a large selection of Files in each.

What I meant to say is I deleted some from each folder(that I didn't need/want..) into the "Recycle Bin" which I have selected in CCleaner to Clean 35x, as well as my Browsing History etc..

 

What I found is after cleaning the Recycle Bin, I could still recover the files using Recuva, when I thought that they were deleted.

Ah with you!

 

1) You had files in 'My Pictures'.

2) You deleted them so they went into the recycle bin.

3) You ran ccleaner with 'Empty Recycle Bin' checked and 'Secure Deletion' set.

4) You were then able to recover the pictures.

 

Sorry ... probably me being slow

 

Did you look in the recycle bin before you ran ccleaner to make sure that the files were there before you ran ccleaner?

 

Could these files have existed elsewhere on the drive first ... maybe copied to 'My Documents' from somewhere else?

 

Also ... to convince yourself that secure deletion works ... do a right-click on one of the files in Recuva and securely delete it ... then run Recuva again.

[ACERman]

Unfortunately, every one I have done all that you have suggested....perhaps I'm cursed

I selected (1) File(Picture, 1.5megs approx..) I moved it to the Recycle Bin, ran the CC analyse before the deletion to see if the file has been selected for deletion, as suggested, it was selected. I ran CC the data successfully removed, I then ran Recuva, it recovered the File, I was expecting the File to have the zzzz.zzz, it didn't it showed the orginal name as before I used CC. I don't understand it., same file size etc.

 

And to answer the previous Post, when I deleted that LARGE quantity of Files from the Recycle Bin(about 3.4gigs approx.) it takes about 25-30 mins to finish cleaning.

When I recover the files, the size is the same, file names are the same etc,.

 

Oh well, not much to do about it. I checked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutmann_method to understand if the method is effective...Surprise, it's not.

 

CURSED, must Be

[Augeas]

One final check, was the last access time of the deleted file (in Recuva) the time you ran the CC delete? And was it a not-to-be-confused-with-any-other-file name?

[JDPower]

You realise that when you deleted the files to the recycle bin there will still be copies of those files in the original location (just marked deleted) that can be recovered. Moving a file from one place to another just puts a copy of the file in the new location (in this case the recycle bin) leaving the original in place on the HD and therefore easily recovered.

 

Besides as far as I'm aware Windows renames files that are in the recycle bin so if you were recovering those files I don't think they would have the original filenames.

[Augeas]

Yes, M/S publishes plenty of detail about how deleting files to the recycler renames them, but I've just deleted a file to the recycler, and then deleted it from the recycler (not using CC) and it shows up with Recuva under the original name. It just doesn't seem to happen.

[marmite]

You realise that when you deleted the files to the recycle bin there will still be copies of those files in the original location (just marked deleted) that can be recovered. Moving a file from one place to another just puts a copy of the file in the new location (in this case the recycle bin) leaving the original in place on the HD and therefore easily recovered.

 

Besides as far as I'm aware Windows renames files that are in the recycle bin so if you were recovering those files I don't think they would have the original filenames.

As far as I know, deleting the file to the recycle bin doesn't normally (ever?) create another copy - it just changes the disk pointers so that file now appears to 'live' in the recycle bin. Same applies to moving a file - it's the pointers that change; the file doesn't get moved if it's on the same disk volume. Only copy actually replicates the file on disk.

[mr don]

Ah with you!

 

1) You had files in 'My Pictures'.

2) You deleted them so they went into the recycle bin.

3) You ran ccleaner with 'Empty Recycle Bin' checked and 'Secure Deletion' set.

4) You were then able to recover the pictures.

 

Sorry ... probably me being slow

 

Did you look in the recycle bin before you ran ccleaner to make sure that the files were there before you ran ccleaner?

 

Could these files have existed elsewhere on the drive first ... maybe copied to 'My Documents' from somewhere else? <<--- You mean, like in a system restore trove, or backup copy?

 

Also ... to convince yourself that secure deletion works ... do a right-click on one of the files in Recuva and securely delete it ... then run Recuva again.

[marmite]

<marmite>Could these files have existed elsewhere on the drive first ... maybe copied to 'My Documents' from somewhere else?</marmite> <<--- You mean, like in a system restore trove, or backup copy?

Nope ... just anywhere else on the drive. I often copy files around ... the 'recuvad' file could have been another copy of the file that had previously been deleted.