Deleted file names

[The Wizard of Odd]

I've just tried out a demo version of "Recover My Files." After running for
an hour (and not even halfway finished) the program identified about 20,000
deleted file names, some of which were deleted years ago. The majority are
not recoverable.

My question is where are all these file names being stored? Why are they
stored? I wipe empty spaces and defragment my drive regularly. Shouldn't a
file name be gone after a few years?

Is there some way to erase tens of thousands of file names hidden somewhere
on the computer?

The Wizard of Odd
(No the Wizard of Computers!)

 

[Mark]

Window Washer by WebRoot....try the trial version, good for 30 days and do a
DOD wipe or NSA level wipe.

 

[Guest]

If you do get w/w use the slack space washer it will overwrite the empty
space where those deleted files might be.

 

[dagdabrona]

Well,

Recovery tools differ, and sometimes one can't restore things other
can. One of the most powerful recover utilities are IMHO Active@
undelete and Uneraser (DOS). You can give it a try see really, what can
be restored.

http://www.active-undelete.com/

http://www.uneraser.com/