Deleting Files Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom
  • Start date Start date
T

Tom

I have heard that when you delete a file by holding the shif key down when
you hit delete that you skip the recycle bin (OK); however, the file space
is not really removed from the disk, only the pointer to the file. A "gas"
bubble is left on the disk until it is defragged.

Is this right?

Thanks in advance,

Tom D.
 
This works, but the hard drives are magnetic, not laser imprints.
There are no gas bubbles.
 
Delete never removes data, it only flags the directory as deleted. I don't
even believe the directory entry is deleted, only flagged. The space will be
reused by the system when needed. That is why you can recover deleted files
with undelete programs if done before the space is reused.
 
If you are running short on disk space, you can go to the CMD prompt, type
CD\ to put you in the Root directory,
Change to the partition where the files are listed, and delete them from the
hard drive. This removes them so you have more space.
 
Tom said:
I have heard that when you delete a file by holding the shif key down when
you hit delete that you skip the recycle bin (OK); however, the file space
is not really removed from the disk, only the pointer to the file. A "gas"
bubble is left on the disk until it is defragged.

Is this right?
Click to expand...


yes
that's right...(essentially)
although the space can of course be written to
 
Tom said:
I have heard that when you delete a file by holding the shif key down
when you hit delete that you skip the recycle bin (OK);

Correct.


however, the
file space is not really removed from the disk, only the pointer to
the file.
Click to expand...


Also correct. But it has nothing to do with deleting while holding the shift
key down. It's the same if you delete it from DOS, empty the recycle bin, or
delete it any other way. "Deleting" a file doesn't actually delete it, but
just removes the pointer.

A "gas" bubble is left on the disk until it is defragged.
Click to expand...


It's not a gas bubble, it's the file itself. And the issue isn't "until it
is defragged," it's until the space is overwritten by another file which
needs the space.

In general, this doesn't matter at all, except on one circumstance--when you
delete a file, then realize that you shouldn't have and want the file back.
I don't know whether getting the file back--"undeleting" it-- is what you're
interested in, but if so, here's my standard blurb on the subject:

***********************

"Deleting" a file doesn't actually delete it; it just marks the space as
available to be used. There are third-party programs that can sometimes
recover deleted files. The problem is that the space used by the file is
likely to become overwritten very quickly, and this makes the file
unrecoverable.

So your chances of successfully recovering this file are decent if you try
recovering it immediately after deleting it, and rapidly go downhill from
there. If you've been using the computer since then (for example to write
this question and read this answer), your chances are probably very poor by
now.

But if the file is important enough, it's worth a try anyway. Stop using the
computer in question immediately, if you haven't done so already. Download
an undelete program (here's one:
http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html but there are several others
to choose from; do a Google search) on a friend's computer and bring it to
yours on a floppy to try.

If this fails, your only other recourse is to take the drive to a
professional file recovery company. This kind of service is very expensive
and may or may not work in your case.
 
A simple answer; when you delete a file by file by any method, the file
remains [inactive] on the disk. Windows simply marks that space as being
available [again] for storage. Until it is overwritten by another stored
file, it can be recovered by the proper software. There are programs sold
which can destroy inactive files by overwritting them numerous times.
You have thrown me by the "gas" bubble comment. Where did you hear that?
Gene
 
Greetings,


The data can be still restored in this case, if you wish to restore
erased files completely and without corrupting them you should use
powerful data recovery utilities. Among then I can pose out Active@
undelete and Uneraser(DOS soft). IMHO they are really great, as I've
used them before and they never failed.

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

http://www.uneraser.com/
 
Back
Top