permanently deleting emails

[Guest]

How can I make sure that an email is permanently deleted? (Those both Sent
and Recieved). I am using Outlook Express 6.0 and I am using the Edit, Empty
Deleted Items folder command. Or I am deleting them individually. My friend
said that there is a way to still access deleted emails from the hard drive
even though you have already deleted them from Outlook Express. Is this the
case?

 

[Guest]

My friend said that there is a way to still access deleted emails from the
hard drive
even though you have already deleted them from Outlook Express. Is this the
case?

YES.

When you delete ANY file from your computer, nothing is done to the file
itself. All that is happening is the operating system removes any referrence
to it, no longer recognizes that it is there, and sets the space on the hard
disk as a space where new files can be written.

The "deleted" files usually get overwritten by other files, eventually. This
is more true if you do a lot of work on your computer, defragment your hard
disk often (which moves files around to make more efficient use of space),
etc.

There is software out there that can "wash" your hard drive of deleted files
for security. Ones that conform to U.S. government security specs do this by
writting gibberish, many times over, to the hard drive. I've never used such
software, so I don't know if such software can be used to wash only space
that your are officially not using, or if they only work for wiping out the
entire hard drive.

People with a lot of technical savvy could find old "deleted" files on your
computer if they have not been overwritten. You should make sure you create a
passwork-protected user account on your computer, and use it whenever you
sign on.