Just because you remove a file on your computer does not mean that it is gone, and it is true for both old mechanical hard drives as well as solid-state drives and flash drives. Still on the flip side, just because the data can rotate on the storage drive, it does not mean that you can always recover files that have been removed, corrupt or lost otherwise.
Let’s do some mythics. Join me because we find out what really happens when you remove a file, how it varies depending on the type of storage drive you have, how you can recover the deleted files (probably) (probably), and how to protect your files from being unlike.
What happens when you remove a file?
Think of your storage drive as a public library, each individual file has a book stored on a shelf. Your operating system (eg, Windows) knows where each book is because it keeps the index of everything. Want to use a certain file? The OS has an indicator of the location of the file on the storage drive, which it then recover.
When you delete A file, you are not destroying the book; Instead, the OS simply loses its indicator for that book. As far as OS is concerned, it no longer knows about the book or where it is – but the real book is still, sitting on the shelf, until it is dealt with. Technically, even though OS does not know about it, you can potentially score the entire library and find such “lost” books … and then “heal” them.
In other words, when you remove a file on your PC, your OS is marking the underlying areas on the storage drive as re -purpose. To really remove the data on the drive, you have to use a safe erease or file cherder tool to reflect physical data – and as long as it happens, the data sitting on the drive can be marked as “removed”, but still recovering.
Ease of data recovery by storage type
Let’s talk about storage types. Here you should really know about data recovery on different types of drives:
- Hard disk drive: Traditional HDD with spinning magnetic platters make data recovery easier. Until you go out of your way to lift things up, and it is trivial to recover the files removed on mechanical HDD until the data has been reflected.
- solid state drive: Modern solid-state drives support trim, a feature that cleans the data when immediate removal. The trim is often enabled by default, but can be closed. With the trim being enabled, a deleted file has gone physically almost immediately, which means that data recovery is extremely difficult if not impossible.
- USB Drive, SD Card and MicroSD Card: Here a large wildcard is not thought of many people. Modern USB flash drives and SD/MicroSD card do not support trim commands. Therefore, although they are technically solid-state storage like your internal SSD, any data that is removed from USB drive or SD/MicroSD card is still frequently recovering. Note that some external SSDs can support trim – it depends on SSD and hardware.
It is also worth noting that encrypted drive is a major solution here. If a drive is encrypted with something like Bitlocker – then full bitlocker experience in Windows Pro or more basic bitlocker experience in Windows Home – Fir files then files Will not done Encryption should be recovered without key. Even if the data is still present on the disc, it will only be a bunch of random noise that is only understandable with the encryption key.
This is a big reason why encryption is so useful. This does not protect you files – it also protects you files removed.
How to recover data from a drive
If you have a storage drive from which you want to recover the files, then the step is one Stop using that drive immediatelyEach time you write a new data to the drive, there is a chance that the new data will be detained – either partially or completely – the data you are trying to retrieve.
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
Stage two is to run a file recovery tool to scan the drive for bits of files removed. The Classic Risuva app works well and it is simple. Microsoft now also has its own Windows File Recovery Tool, but it is a command-line tool. (To use it, see the official guide of Microsoft.) These are just a short distance from my head. There are many other file recovery equipment.
If the data is mission-curvature (for example, you have removed a copy of a CEO and only one important business plan, or it is a collection of irreparable individual photos with emotional value), you can seriously consider using a professional data forensic service instead.
How to prevent data from recovering data
If you want to prevent people from recovering your files, the best method is encryption. Full break. People will not be able to recover (or unspecified) files removed without your encryption key.
If you are saving data for a traditional magnetic hard drive, USB flash drive, or SD/MicroSD card and this data is unnovated – who, let’s be honest, almost always the same when we use a flash drive and SD/MicroSD card – so you can want to use a safe wipe tool. In fact Removed files removed. Tools such as eraser and bleachbit are great for overwriting individual files on storage.
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
Better yet, use the device that writes zero or random bits for the entire USB flash drive or SD/MicroSD card to remove everything stored on it. This ensures that anything is recovered. (Yes, flash storage only contains a lot of “writing bicycles”, but it should not do this all the time. Only when you have important files that need to be slanting.) Both eraser and disc wipe can drive both the eraser and disc wipe.
In other words, if you have handed over the documents to your accountant by doing something on the flash drive and now want to ensure that the data is inaccessible, then it is the right time to overware the drive and wipe the drive.
There is also a simple, physical solution: destroy the bus drive. Indeed, when the army has cosmic nuclear launch codes – or some other important data – on a drive, they toss it into a consumer. If you had actually sensitive information on $ 5 USB drive, you can feel physically more safe than wiping it digitally.
Don’t forget backup and cloud
It is not only about the storage hardware you use. A modern Windows Computer is not leaving your files in a particular folder only on a local storage device. It is often taking backup of your data and storing it elsewhere, such as on the cloud (depending on how you have configured ondrive on your PC). On Windows, Onedrive Default by sinking your desktop, document, picture, music and video folders.
This is also true with other devices, such as your iPhone with Android phone or iCloud with Google Photos. You thought you have removed that file, but one copy of it may be somewhere else – and someone may be able to dig it out of the backup or find it in the waste section of your cloud storage service (often up to 30 days of delay).
Therefore, if you are sure that some files are not recovered from physical storage media, then be sure to think about other storage places.
Keep in mind with your files and data
The way here is that a deleted file is not always necessary. The OS may have marked it as deleted, but the file can still remain on the storage drive – as long as there is nothing like a trim in the storage drive and actually erases its memory when a file is removed.
Meanwhile, a file can be removed from a location (eg, internal SSD of your PC), but still exists somewhere else as a backup (eg, ondrive or google photos). On the other hand, if a file is encrypted, it really does not matter whether it is right or not – it will not be readable without the correct encryption key anyway.
You all can try your best to understand how all this works and when it comes to your data, be cautious, whether it means preserving it with encryption, storing it in safe places in safe places, ensuring that you have backup when you need them when you need them, and more.
