Trying to understand "Show zero-byte files" option

[rjo98]

Hi guys. I'm trying to understand whether I would want to use the "Show zero-byte files" option in Recuva or not. If the files have no data in them since they are zero bytes in size, what is the purpose behind erasing them? the file names may contain sensitive info? but does Recuva really mask the file names then if you securely erase with it?

[Augeas]

You can't erase a zero-byte file in Recuva. Recuva won't alter the file name, in fact it will do nothing apart from issuing a message if an erase is attempted. Whether you want to see these files is up to you.

[rjo98]

Thanks Augeas. So in what circumstances would someone actually want to see these files though since nothing can be done to them? Just trying to understand here.

[Augeas]

I show them. I suppose it just gives the full picture of what's in the MFT. Also if you're looking for a specific file (and don't know the size) then it's nice to know it's there, even if you can't recover it.

[rjo98]

I always show them too because curiosity gets the best of me when I run it. Guess I was just trying to think of some real world examples of when that would come in handy, other than to know it's in the MFT so it would show in the results.