Interesting article about email delete

http://tech.msn.com/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4848920&GT1=10036

 

well like ppl say you can delete things off your comp but its actually still hidden inside

 

it about this erasing feature.......a file its only gone from ur harddrive...when it is overwritten. when u delete a file, only the reference in the database is deleted and the space is cleared for new storage. only then when this particular spot on your harddisk is overwritten(its magnetic after all) then the old information will be gone forever. U can retrieve deleted files with special programs(before this space has been rewritten with new data).
And this counts for all the mailservers and storagespaces where mails and other data had been. Thats what forensic detectives sometimes do....

 

^ if you have "deleted" a file and you use a comp good enough, enough of the file is usually written off for the freeware apps to not become suitable anymore

then you get into the realm of the forensic and professional data recoveries which cost arms and legs and a kidney

if you really wana be safe, youll have to just c4 your hdd to hell

 

its very true. even if files are 'permanently' deleted, they are only placed in a queue so that when the harddrive needs space for new data, it is written OVER the 'deleted' data... so when i actually deleted this movie i downloaded, i used a program to recover that movie... didnt work so well, but it is possible lol

 

i usually recomend people to do a low level format before they junk any hard drive. a low level format to fill the drive with 0 and 1.

Partition magic does quite the job when it comes to low lvl formating...also a program like ccleaner can do a 7 pass delete method to purge most files. (www.ccleaner.com) i've found the 7 passes to be pretty good...did a few test with deleted files and could not get them back...used software from ontrack and other companies but could not get it back.

The only way that i can think of gettin a file back is to physically open the drive in a static free room and manually scan the platters for the file sector by sector...but then you would be paying out the arse...

 

http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2006.04.12-HDD-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

here's another one. freeware..sooo not illegal.

when they say.. ALL DATA WILL BE FULLY and IRREVERSIBLY ERASED!

does that mean we lose everything, like the stuff we dont wanna delete?!:(

 

yup...everything that is on that drive will be wiped...i recommed if u goin to do a format to backup all important data first...u can use the free backup software found in windows xp or purchase software like norton's ghost (http://www.symantec.com) or acronis backup software (http://www.acronis.com/)

i like acronis because you can do a over the network backup to another computer or network shared drive...it beats having to buy a portable HDD if u don't have one

it can be found in start -> all Programs -> accessories -> system tools -> backup

backup or u may regret erasing that picture of u and your grandma

 

hmmm, still scared to do it LOL, friend wants to reformat her computer also, but she's xp cd-less , you think this will do her any good? LOL

 

type in "recover files" on google and you will find alot of freeware that lets you recover the files you deleted, whether intentionally or accidentally.
but the articles mentioned how emails are being bounced on so many servers that even if a server's HD was written over, you can still find it on other servers.
I believe there's new law that requires certain network security even if credit card information just passes through a server. We recently had that problem at work.