We are all familiar with dragging a folder into the trash bin and later empty the bin. Let it be clear to you that the file is still available on your laptop only difference is, you cannot easily retrieve it from the hard drive. A perfect illustration of what this means is when you scribble over written words on a piece of paper. Now wipe out the marks and notice you can still trace the words. But when you write over those words, they become illegible. Get the point?
Deleting Without Sending It to Trash Bin
As most of us know, dragging files to the recycle bin deletes them from your hard drive. However, it doesn’t permanently remove them. Anyone can restore them, especially on a windows PC. This is why it is important to always empty the recycle bin regularly. You can also bypass the recycle bin folder using the procedure below:
- Right-click the recycle bin and select “properties.”
- Select the drive where you want to delete the data
- Choose the “Don’t move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted.” Option
- Click Apply. Save the settings
Using an Online File Shredder
From time to time, you may have a lot of unwanted files on your PC. These could include copies of the same files on different locations and drives, which unnecessarily fill up your storage space. In a recent piece about why you need shred cube products, the providers describe how the Shred Cube program is even more secure than paper shredding. It ensures that selected sensitive files or unwanted copies are deleted safely and can never be recovered. The best part is that no software download is required.
Data Recovery as Part of Secure Deletion of Files
Sometimes we lose files out of accidental deletions, virus infections, formatting mistakes, crushing, and partitioning loss. Data recovery can only be made using a technical data recovery program, some of which have deletion features as well. Notably, the software can help recover wiped, erased, and overwritten files. You will know whether the files have been permanently deleted with the below steps. Here is where you have to be careful on what you select because once the file is erased, it may not be recovered. Always select the file you want to delete and right-click it, and then erase it.
- Select the location you want to perform the recovery and start scanning
- Mark the files you want to recover
- Select where you want the recovered files to be stored
With the above procedure, you will thoroughly get what you have been looking for and store it desirably.
The Kind of Data That Cannot Be Recovered
Even as we talk about deletion and recovery, there are cases where what has been erased cannot be retrieved. In many instances, accidentally deleted files can cause a lot of stress and turmoil. The bitter pill is that in some cases, this data cannot be recovered. This may include:
- Permanently Erased Data: We can say nothing much here because the data is already wiped off completely.
- Overwritten Data: You most probably know by now what overwriting means. After losing your data, you can continue using your hard drive to write new data over the old data. That will make it tough to recover overwritten files. The new files will reflect while the old ones will lay dead on the device.
Many of us constantly handle sensitive data and confidential information on our computers and laptops. If this data were to fall into the wrong hands, it could easily be used against you, a friend, a colleague, or a client. With the above information, thankfully, you can easily give out or sell your laptop without worrying about leaking sensitive information to whoever will use or own it next.
