would this work

[Guest]

everyone knows how deleted files are not really deleted. What if you deleted what you want then fill the HD to the brim with dvd images.Wouldnt this cause the "deleted" files to be overwritten?
Also this brings me back to an unanswered question. If files arent deleted, how come your pc doesnt slow down after backing up hundreds of dvds? I would have filled my drive many times over, but it is still quite speedy.

[Baldrick]

Yep. You can't get back all files you have deleted, just the once recently deleted and that has not yet been overwritten with new data. This does not slow down the hd.

But you might get a fragmented hd that can slow down it a bit...run the defragmentation tool to check if you need to defrag the hd.

[glockjs]

eh. yeah it would work but thats alot of work basically when something gets deleted i think windows just puts a "&" in front of the file. if you fill your hard drive to the brim how could everything not be overwritten. unless of course you found that secret to overclock you hdd

it'll eventually slow down because of fragments here n there

[waheed]

You can get software that permanently deletes all files. I use Wife Info (part of Norton Systemworks) though they are better ones out there.

[redwudz]

Most of the security software writes random 1's and 0's to overwrite the files that you want to destroy. This can be done many times to throughly damage the unwanted files. Gutmann protocol does it 35 times, DOD is usually 3, NSA is 7. You can also use software that overwrites all free space on the drive, though that can take some time.

Window Washer is an easy program to use, does all of the above and frees up space by automatically deleting files you don't want. There are freeware programs that can do the same, though not as user friendly. Lots of other similar programs out there, just search.

Of course, there is no 100% way to remove every last trace. For that you need to physically destroy the HD.