Hard drive

[Bruce]

I would like to know how to access the part of my hard
drive that has the deleted files in it. When I delete a
Word document and the trash gets emptied, where does it
go and is there any way to go and get it? I don't know
the exact file name...

Your help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Bruce

 

[R. McCarty]

Files are all "Referenced". The actual file will exist in numbered
Clusters on the drive. A table holds data that equates the filename
to it's starting cluster#. When you delete a file, only the table data
is removed. The clusters holding the actual content still exist.
However, those cluster numbers are placed in the available space
table. If a new file is written to the drive using any part of the former
file's clusters, the file becomes unrecoverable. This is why when a
user deletes a file and needs it back it is important not to continue
to use the PC. The more file activity that occurs, the higher the
chances of overwriting the old file.