Safe file deletion and Drive remediation on Windows

Information may not be reliable

When we delete a file on Windows it is moved to the recycle bin. If we want to permanently delete it, we empty the recycle bin and the file is no longer there ... But in reality it is still there!

In fact, when we empty the recycle bin, the files it contained are not permanently deleted , but are still recoverable with specific programs (which we will see later in another guide). In fact, they are only moved to a section of the disc that is not visible to us, waiting to be overwritten by other files that we will save on the PC in the future. In this guide we will see which systems to use in order to make these files no longer recoverable in order to better protect our privacy .

Let's see how to permanently delete a single file

To do this we will use a free program called Freeraser that you can download from its official page at this link: Freeraser

Once downloaded and installed from the settings, remember as always to disable the automatic start

Started the program we will have its icon in the quick start bar at the bottom right, click on it and the image of a trash will open

What we have to do is simply drag over the file we want to delete

We will then be asked for confirmation and we will see a small animation on the wheel of a spinning wheel

When it stops, the file will be permanently deleted

The program practically does nothing but overwrite the file we are deleting over and over until it is illegible.

Freeraser

In the past, however, we may have deleted many things and we do not want them to be recoverable, so let's proceed to see how to clean up the drive.

• We use CCleaner once again , find the download link in this our guide

• We close all active applications (Skype, Browser etc.)

• We start CCleaner and confirm it as an administrator

• Let's go to "Tools" and choose "Drive remediation"

• Below we put the check on the disk where we want to carry out the remediation

• From the drop-down menu we choose "Only free space"

• On the other drop-down menu we have to choose the type of overwriting, the more complex it will be the longer it will take, we choose the one we prefer so

• Click on "Reclamation" and this will be started. The operation time varies according to the volume of files to be overwritten and the type of writing we have chosen,
• it can also last a long time anyway.

   

Well now we know how to permanently delete our personal files and protect our privacy .

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