Wiping files that have already been Deleted

[Guest]

I can't seem to find an answer to this question.

If we have a file, and then we delete it, we have a recoverable file.
To make the deletion permanent, we would have to wipe the entire free space
of the hard drive. This is time consuming and seems unnecessary to me. The
hard disk is brand new, and have only used a small amount of the disk space.
To be wiping the entire disk just for one or two files seem absurd.

My question is, is there a way(a program/utililty whatever), that can find
the file that has been deleted(its location/sector/cluster) and wipe only
that specific (area/file) making it unrecoverable?

It seems once you make the mistake of not deleting the file by wiping,
you've lost your chance, and now you have to wipe the entire free space.

I would greatly appreciate any answer.

Regards,

Mike

 

[FreeComputerConsultant.com]

How about SDelete?

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/SDelete.mspx

www.FreeComputerConsultant.com

 

[Guest]

Mike,

Files that have already been deleted will have to be deleted the long way
which you are talking about. Unless you are going to recover all of those
files with a file recovery program and then use this next step. You can use
this program...

http://www.handybits.com/shredder.htm

To securely delete all the files you want in the future. This is for non
commercial use only and is free.

Good Luck,

Joe

Kemco ITP

 

[Bob I]

Wipe white space or "fill the file with gibberish" and save it before
you delete it.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I can't seem to find an answer to this question.

If we have a file, and then we delete it, we have a recoverable file.
To make the deletion permanent, we would have to wipe the entire free
space of the hard drive. This is time consuming and seems unnecessary
to me. The hard disk is brand new, and have only used a small amount
of the disk space. To be wiping the entire disk just for one or two
files seem absurd.

My question is, is there a way(a program/utililty whatever), that can
find the file that has been deleted(its location/sector/cluster) and
wipe only that specific (area/file) making it unrecoverable?

It seems once you make the mistake of not deleting the file by wiping,
you've lost your chance, and now you have to wipe the entire free
space.

Three points:

1. There are utilities that can wipe individual files, rather than the
entire drive. Google for them. Whether they work on a file that's already
been deleted, I don't know, but worst case, just undelete the file, then
wipe it.

2. In the normal course of events, when you undelete a file, the space it
used will be overwritten within a few days. I don't know what your secutrity
requirements are, but for most people, that normal overwriting is good
enough.

3. Be aware that no wiping software is perfect. Whatever you do, even if you
wipe the entire drive multiple times, there exists sophisticated drive
recovery techniques that can sometimes recover data. For that reason, for
really sensistive data, the US government does not rely on any such software
techniques, but physically destroys such drives by melting them in a
furnace.

 

[Rock]

I can't seem to find an answer to this question.

If we have a file, and then we delete it, we have a recoverable file.
To make the deletion permanent, we would have to wipe the entire free
space
of the hard drive. This is time consuming and seems unnecessary to me. The
hard disk is brand new, and have only used a small amount of the disk
space.
To be wiping the entire disk just for one or two files seem absurd.

My question is, is there a way(a program/utililty whatever), that can find
the file that has been deleted(its location/sector/cluster) and wipe only
that specific (area/file) making it unrecoverable?

It seems once you make the mistake of not deleting the file by wiping,
you've lost your chance, and now you have to wipe the entire free space.

I would greatly appreciate any answer.

There are lots of utilities that do this. Google for file wiping.
CyberScrub is one. It's not free, but it has some nice features.

 

[R. McCarty]

I use CyberScrub, a nice program - very handy for a number of
Security uses.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I didn't quite get SDelete and Cyberscrub, do they contain the solution to
my question? I don't want a wiping utility that just wipes, there are many
out there, I'm looking for what will answer my question.

You mentioned that I could recover and wipe it again. But I don't think that
would resolve anything. If I recover a deleted file, the recovered file will
probably get stored on a different location (sector/cluster) on the hard
drive, thereby resulting in two recoverable files. Even if I wipe the
recovered file, the original file that had been deleted (without wiping) will
remain untouched residing on the same location (sector/cluster) as it did
before.

Any help will be appreciated,

Regards,

Mike

 

[Rock]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I didn't quite get SDelete and Cyberscrub, do they contain the solution to
my question? I don't want a wiping utility that just wipes, there are many
out there, I'm looking for what will answer my question.

You mentioned that I could recover and wipe it again. But I don't think
that
would resolve anything. If I recover a deleted file, the recovered file
will
probably get stored on a different location (sector/cluster) on the hard
drive, thereby resulting in two recoverable files. Even if I wipe the
recovered file, the original file that had been deleted (without wiping)
will
remain untouched residing on the same location (sector/cluster) as it did
before.

Since you didn't quote any of the original thread, we don't know what your
question was.

 

[Guest]

Sorry about that.

I can't seem to find an answer to this question.

If we have a file, and then we delete it, we have a recoverable file.
To make the deletion permanent, we would have to wipe the entire free space
of the hard drive. This is time consuming and seems unnecessary to me. The
hard disk is brand new, and have only used a small amount of the disk space.
To be wiping the entire disk just for one or two files seem absurd.

My question is, is there a way(a program/utililty whatever), that can find
the file that has been deleted(its location/sector/cluster) and wipe only
that specific (area/file) making it unrecoverable?

It seems once you make the mistake of not deleting the file by wiping,
you've lost your chance, and now you have to wipe the entire free space.

I didn't quite get SDelete and Cyberscrub, do they contain the solution to
my question? I don't want a wiping utility that just wipes, there are many
out there, I'm looking for what will answer my question.

You mentioned that I could recover and wipe it again. But I don't think that
would resolve anything. If I recover a deleted file, the recovered file will
probably get stored on a different location (sector/cluster) on the hard
drive, thereby resulting in two recoverable files. Even if I wipe the
recovered file, the original file that had been deleted (without wiping) will
remain untouched residing on the same location (sector/cluster) as it did
before.

Any help will be appreciated,

Regards,

Mike

 

[Guest]

You mentioned that I could recover and wipe it again. But I don't think that

would resolve anything. If I recover a deleted file, the recovered file will
probably get stored on a different location (sector/cluster) on the hard
drive, thereby resulting in two recoverable files. Even if I wipe the
recovered file, the original file that had been deleted (without wiping) will
remain untouched residing on the same location (sector/cluster) as it did
before.

Mike,

Your best bet would be to do a secure wipe on your entire free space of the
hard drive. Then in the future use one of the programs we mentioned to you
to delete and secure wipe your confidential information. Good Luck,

Joe

Kemco ITP

 

[Rock]

Sorry about that.


I didn't quite get SDelete and Cyberscrub, do they contain the solution to
my question? I don't want a wiping utility that just wipes, there are many
out there, I'm looking for what will answer my question.

You mentioned that I could recover and wipe it again. But I don't think
that
would resolve anything. If I recover a deleted file, the recovered file
will
probably get stored on a different location (sector/cluster) on the hard
drive, thereby resulting in two recoverable files. Even if I wipe the
recovered file, the original file that had been deleted (without wiping)
will
remain untouched residing on the same location (sector/cluster) as it did
before.

Any help will be appreciated,

Ok I got it. Yes Cyberscrub will wipe individual files at the time of
deletion. It will also wipe free space, and tracks from certain programs.