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Files that are "deleted" are not actually deleted; the pointers to them are removed. Data remains on the drive until it is overwritten by newer files. As photorec looks at data on the hard drive, it may recover all or parts of files that the system considers "deleted," that is, used space available for reuse.
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
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Shred ought to USB flash drive, if that's what you mean? If you're referring to an SSD it ought to also and there's the fstrim command to wipe free space.
I believe that, for spinning drives, shred can be set to clear non-used space also.
The key to any of this though is to think about this before you start using a drive and set things up so that it's easier to ensure all data is removed. There's no use, for example, in simply reformating the disk you're suing and installing again from scratch as the remnants of all old files not written over will still be there.
So, take a step back: How did your drive get into the state it is in? How would you like it to be? What type of drive is it? How can people here help?
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by descendant_command
Which is precisely what the dd command does.
I don't think writing zeros over a file does anything on a flash drive, or an SSD. Something to do with wear-limiting and not making unneeded writes.
Edit: Oh, there's also that fact that even on a spinny disk where the data is gone the file record will sti;l be there so potorec might still see that?
I don't think writing zeros over a file does anything on a flash drive, or an SSD. Something to do with wear-limiting and not making unneeded writes.
Edit: Oh, there's also that fact that even on a spinny disk where the data is gone the file record will sti;l be there so potorec might still see that?
It actually made deleted files unrecoverable by writing over the entire disk space.
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixit7
It actually made deleted files unrecoverable by writing over the entire disk space.
Photorec could find nothing to recover. :-)
Less than 10 minutes to write a 4 Gb file.
Thanks. This is bringing back memories of a similar thread and I've a feeling that the actual flash cells aren't changed but as long as they're not removed form the device the files can't be seen. Sorry, my memory isn't what it was.
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