Ask a Question
or
Create a Poll
  1. Home /
  2. Questions /
  3. Computers

by nightminds on November 14th, 2006

nightminds

Question

Help answer this question below.

When you delete items on your computer and then empty the recycle bin, where do the items go?

  • Like
  • Report
Share:
Other

Answers. 5 helpful answers below.

  • by Roger in Bangkok on November 16th, 2006

    Roger in Bangkok

    The literal answer is that the first character of the filname is erased. Using a deleted file recover program gives you a list of those files with a missing first character and you simply fill it in to recover your choice.

    Many a crook has sat in the hoosgow, thinking that he was sure he had erased all the evidence from his computer :-)

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by johnwon on January 17th, 2011

    johnwon

    Here's an article explains what happens when items are deleted from recycle bin
    http://www.asoftech.com/articles/how-to-recover-files-deleted-from-recycle-bin.html

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Karl Plesz on November 16th, 2006

    Karl Plesz

    Just to add to what ImAlec said, when a file is in the recycle bin, it's just being protected by Windows so you can change your mind about deleting it - but it's not really deleted at all.

    When you empty the recycle bin, the file's protected status is removed so that it is in effect deleted. When you delete a file, the bits remain where they were - they are not written over (yet), only the (for lack of a less technical term) <b>listing</b> to the existence of the file including where it is located are affected. And the listing is not deleted either, just renamed to something Windows will purposely ignore.

    Any file recovery utility sees right through this little game of hide and seek and can bring the file right back. But only if Windows hasn't over-written another file where the original used to exist. Once the original file's space is used by a new file, the old file is basically irretrievable.

    I say basically, because forensic tools can recover files using special equipment, even if they were written over 6 times by other files.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Im Alec has abandoned this account on November 14th, 2006

    Im Alec has abandoned this account

    They don't "go" anywhere. But the pointers to them are removed, so they might as well have gone. The space they used to occupy has been marked as "free". Sooner or later, something else will need some disk space, and they will be overwritten. But in the short term, they remain present but inaccessible like a letter you have dropped in the trash which has not yet been pulped.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Anonymous on November 14th, 2006

    Anonymous

    Sites and email addresses are never destroyed. you might empty the recycle bin, but the address are on a disc, somewhere in your computer.

    Its stored this way for a reason.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

Want to attach an image to your answer? Click here.

Did this answer your question? If not, then ask a new question or create a poll.

More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading When you delete items on your computer and then empty the recycle bin, where do the items go?

Follow us on Facebook!

Related Ads

Related Questions

Professionally Researched

ANSWERBAG BUZZ

Deleting items on computer
Where do items in recycle bin go when deleted
Where do deleted recycle bin items go
Where do items go that were deleted in the recycle bin
How to delete any items on your computer

Answerbag

a Demand Media company