chaayzir

I've read that 7 passes is enough by NSA standards. Would the NSA really adopt that policy if data could still be recovered?

I'm not sure, I've read that it is nearly impossible to recover data after a 7 pass overwrite but also read that forensics can still recover it. Not sure which one of those is correct. However, I've even read somewhere that overwriting with 7 passes is actually better than physical destruction of the drive...

Basically what happened is that during my porn browsing, I ended up on a really sketchy website and I am paranoid that there may have been illegal images on there. I want to make sure all traces of the cache files from that browsing session are gone just in case my computer is ever put under forensic analysis.

I used ccleaner to wipe the free space from my hard disc, which has about 75 GB free. I used the 7 pass overwrite and this it only took 54 minutes. I read that this is supposed to take a long time, so I want to make sure that I am not messing up with the settings or anything. Could wiping free space from the entire drive actually be that quick?

Nevermind, I actually tried it again and realized that while the names of the files came up, it said the files were unrecoverable. But why is it that it finds the reference file? Is that easier to recover or something?

So I erased a bunch of files in a folder by right clicking on them and using Eraser, but I was able to recover all those files using a deep scan on that folder with Recuva. When I go into Eraser and click settings, under the default file eraser method, it says 35 Gutmann passes. This means that this is what it does to the file when you write click and use Eraser right? If this is the case, then how is Recuva able to recover all those files? I thought 35 Gutmann passes rendered a file pretty much unrecoverable. Could it be that it is not actually doing 35 Gutmann passes?

Also, is doing the 7 pass overwrite multiple times as effective as doing the 35 Gutmann passes once?

I used ccleaner to wipe the free space on my hard drive so I can overwrite files that had already been deleted. I checked the "Wipe Free Space" box and also the "Wipe MTF Free Space" box. My hard disc has 103 GB of free space and I read this would take a very long time, however, I let it run over night and it was done within like 8 hours. Is that normal? Did it actually overwrite all my deleted files or is there something I may have done wrong in the settings?

If I am looking to overwrite files which have already been deleted, wiping free space would be the way to do this, am I correct? I have read posts about how if the wipe is interrupted, the overwrite file will remain on your drive and take up all your space. This seemed to be a concern for some people. But in that situation, you would be able to remove that file and get your space back with a simple delete, right? Or is it more complicted than that? I am using Windows 7 btw.