Hi

I was wondering if it was possible to recover deleted files like you
can in windows? this means after I click the empty trash button.

If so what programs do I need to install?

What can I do to prevent a file from being recovered?

Is there a shredding program that will overwrite a file many times?

Thanks

Vanessa

Yes, shred will do that. See:

man shred

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Steve Stites

My understanding is that shred doesn't work on journaling filesystems like ext3. http://linux.die.net/man/1/shred

I do however shred all my drives from a live CD before getting rid of a computer. It works fine on whole disks, just not on individual files.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shredding

Thanks for the info, that is part of what Im looking for!!

so If I have already deleted a file, is it posible to recover it and then shred it?
I want to get rid of my banking info, from my joint account with my ex husband. I
have a new bank and a seporate account now.

The shred command is just what I need, but I want to get rid of the original file.
From what I read on the links you two guys listed the files are actually still there,
just the space is marked as available. Is this correct?

Thanks again
Vanessa

No, you can't recover the file to then shred it. The data is (probably) still there, but getting to it would be extremely difficult. Even for an experienced user.
You need to shred instead of deleting - not after.

Some more fuel for your paranoia - there are actually two (deleted) copies of the data if you deleted it from the trashcan. Never did like that concept.
And of course, as file(s) are updated (in normal use), data blocks get re-written - somewhere else. So some of the data could be almost anywhere.
Or it could all have been over-written and be perfectly safe.

Don't worry about it unless your ex works for one of the "spooks".

If you want to get rid of everything; data, journals, filenames, old partial blocks, even the partition table and MBR then I recommend dban:

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

dban is what I reach for whenever I hear the cops pounding up the steps.

--------------------------
Steve Stites

Don't you get sick of doing that every couple of weeks .... ??? ....

I'm afraid the only way to get rid of the data is to shred (or use DBAN) the entire drive. That means you would have to reinstall your operating system and all of your programs (make a backup of important data because it will all be gone). That's the only way it will all be gone.

Unless you have some reason to be paranoid about getting rid of it right now, I would just wait until you want to reformat the drive someday, then shred it then.

Then you either have a very small HD or a mightly long flight of stairs or law enforcement over there is obese beyond hope ;-p I use DBAN a couple of times a week and even if writing one pass zeroes it isn't *that* quick.