Windows in-private browsing, not so private

[Steve-c]

Hi..

 

I was prompted to download Recuva by a friend to enable me to recover old files that i thought had been lost forever, in fact i thought they did not exist as i was downloading whilst in private browsing mode on Windows 7.. Files successfully recovered and saved, but i thought i would use the secure delete function as the scan pulled up a load of stuff that was either of no interest or a bit suspect.. Files checked and then the delete checked files option, box to inform me that x number of files would be permenently deleted, ok, then a box to tell me that 0 files had been deleted in 0.03 seconds ??? I have been able in settings to set overright options, tried all options, but all to no avail... help !

 

Steve

[Nergal]

private browsing doesn't stop you from downloading nor does it remove any files from the computer if you've saved them. It also does not make anything you downloaded

(for said function you'll want something like sandboxee)

as for the rest of your question I got a little lost

Are you asking

- why isn't the internet privacy more private?

- why does recuva state 0 files

- why does it take so short?

- what were these files I found?

 

also it may be that the files were already overwritten so there was nothing recuva could do

[Steve-c]

I shall explain better hopefully...

The files that are recovered by Recuva are deleted files, and also files that were viewed whilst in 'in private browsing'

My problem is that when attempting to secure delete all files, or even an individual file, the prompt to delete warning that the file will be lost forever, on pressing delete is followed in a split second by another box showing 0 files and a time, normally 0.02 sec.. The files still exist and if checking header still contain information, not a line of zeros... It will note unrecoverable files, and normally explain a reason, overwritten etc but no matter what i try it will not overwrite existing files

[Augeas]

There are some classes of file that Recuva won't overwrite, principally those whose data has been overwritten by another file, and those which are short enough, say fewer than 7-800 bytes, to fit entirely into the MFT record. Usually this wouldn't apply to all deleted files, as not all would have been overwritten and not all would be so small. But if free space and the MFT have previously been wiped with CCleaner then the MFT will be full of 600 byte files. They can't be overwritten as Recuva can't modify the MFT. They should have strange ZZ names and they contin zeroes. Perhaps you have a combination of these conditions.

 

InPrivate is anything but. It's the same as clear browser history on exit.

[Steve-c]

Thank you Augeas, now having run CC cleaner and highlighted MFT, and re-run Recuva, the number of files recoverable has been diminished considerably, there still exist a few that will still allow preview, but with work these can be cleared also... I will run CC cleaner in advance of Recuva as a norm now, thank you again..