Whizmama Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I'm interested to discover what "Wipe Free Space" does. I have an HP Laptop that is slow as molasses. I checked off Wipe Free space after I had gone through all the other boxes carefully. It says not to do this regularly as it will slow down regular cleaning speed. I assume that this means I can allow it to Wipe Free Space and go for lunch as it cycles through the apparently 12 GB of stuff there. Could you explain what "Wipe Free Space" actually does, and if we can use it confidently on a computer that is bogged down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethec Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 It won't help. Wipe Free Space erases already deleted files in order to make them unrecoverable by file recovery software such as Recuva. However, Windows doesn't make any difference between a deleted file and free space. To speed up your laptop, you should try uninstalling all the programs you don't use, and *all* the toolbars. Piriform French translator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ident Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I'm interested to discover what "Wipe Free Space" does. I have an HP Laptop that is slow as molasses. I checked off Wipe Free space after I had gone through all the other boxes carefully. It says not to do this regularly as it will slow down regular cleaning speed. I assume that this means I can allow it to Wipe Free Space and go for lunch as it cycles through the apparently 12 GB of stuff there. Could you explain what "Wipe Free Space" actually does, and if we can use it confidently on a computer that is bogged down? Wipe free space confuses many users. It will not gain you any space or increase any pc performance. I am not sure where you have got 12gb of space from? Wipe free space creates a tempory file the size of your HD then deletes it. When files are deleted by windows only the pointer to the file is removed and the space marked as free. Making the file recoverable. Only when the space is needed will windows actually remove the file. By WFS the user can force windows to remove perminently the previous deleted data. A lot of users like my self believe it should be moved to tools. To stop confusion like this. It only really needs to be used if you are selling your computer or worried about sensative data being on the machine. Might be worth in your free time to post some more information up in a new thread and people can suggest ways to help your pc performance. *edit* Aethec beat reply. No fate but what we make Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizmama Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 So you are saying.... that I can safely run Wipe Free Space, taking into consideration that now I will never be able to recover any files I have already deleted, but that there is no real benefit to doing so, other than security. My next question is... Has anyone out there used Wipe Free Space and found that they had indeed improved computer performance? And, if I run Wipe Free Space, should I perhaps FIRST run a Recovery software to check to make sure that I indeed want to delete all the deleted files.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ident Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 So you are saying.... that I can safely run Wipe Free Space, taking into consideration that now I will never be able to recover any files I have already deleted, but that there is no real benefit to doing so, other than security. My next question is... Has anyone out there Wipe Free Space and found that they had indeed improved computer performance? And, if I run Wipe Free Space, should I perhaps FIRST run a Recovery software to check to make sure that I indeed want to delete all the deleted files.... You personally wont, Hardware assited recovery wont. Foresnic scope.... Hmm this is a often discussed area. I say no. Over spill on magnetic platters of the drive..... I'm going way off topic here. So il stop there. You can safely run WFS, There is NO, NO absolutely no benifit. Please dont waste your time doing it. It's pointless. If any one claimed to gain pc performance by running WFS, Then well *Sigh* That would generally be down to them to believe. I cant for the life of me imagine how it would be remotely possible. To answer your last question, why would you need to run recova? Surely if you was missing a file already you would of noticed. Every action you pretty much do increases the chance of windows deleting more files(all ready deleted) My advice to you would be to ignore WFS, and concentrate on ideas to improve over all performance. No fate but what we make Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DennisD Posted August 24, 2010 Moderators Share Posted August 24, 2010 Hi Whizmama, and welcome to Piriform. As the guys have both mentioned above, don't use Wipe Free Space unless you are going to sell your PC, as it does absolutely nothing to aid the performance of your computer. As you mention yourself, you may want at a later date to recover something you deleted, so do as a lot of us do on here, and leave it alone. Getting rid of temp files and cookies with CCleaner will help, and also check that you don't have more than one Antivirus program, or active Spyware program running, as this can cause conflict and major slowdown of your PC as well as reducing their effectiveness. Also make sure your PC is clean by doing regular scans with your security software. And defrag your drive occasionally, as a badly fragmented drive can cause slowdown issues. Any doubts or queries, then just post back here, and we'll be happy to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizmama Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 Thanks everyone. You guys are great (even though some of the English is pretty rough). I am going to work on removing programs, and will post a new thread for that. TTFN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizmama Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 Just a last thing - when I activated wipe free space it temporarily displayed a number 12,000 MB (12 GB)? that it was going to scan. I'm not at the laptop right now. Since you say it doesn't really pay to run Wipe Free Space, it doesn't really matter what it's doing, or what numbers are popping up. I was curious about the number it did display while running WFS, because if it was 12 GB of deleted files it could explain my stupid computer performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DennisD Posted August 25, 2010 Moderators Share Posted August 25, 2010 When you activate and run WFS, it shows the amount of free space on the drive, the time remaining to overwrite it, and the percentage completed. And unlike older versions of CCleaner, if you cancel the process, it removes the file created as it progresses. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethec Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Thanks everyone. You guys are great (even though some of the English is pretty rough). Sorry if my English is not really good...I'm from Switzerland and I don't speak English besides writing in English-speaking forums Piriform French translator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroozer Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Sorry if my English is not really good...I'm from Switzerland and I don't speak English besides writing in English-speaking forums I beg to differ, Aethec. Your English is excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethec Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I beg to differ, Aethec. Your English is excellent. Thank you Piriform French translator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DennisD Posted August 25, 2010 Moderators Share Posted August 25, 2010 +1 Aethec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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