Overwrite trash

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 09/24/2011 - 13:14
Forums: 
Support
Forum tags: 
Overwrite
shred
trash
bin

Hi,

I've looked around for the answer to this but can't seem to find it, apologies if I've missed it.

Does the overwrite files option shred any files in the trash folder (in Ubuntu or the recycle bin in windows)? Also, does anyone know if the overwrite option overwrites file slack?

Thanks for your help,

andrew

Sat, 09/24/2011 - 14:16

BleachBit 0.9.0 overwrites the trash in Linux but not the recycle bin in Windows. On Windows, you could restore a file and then click File -Shred Files to shred it.

BleachBit 0.9.0 overwrites unallocated blocks but not slack space. This is potentially dangerous and slack space contains little recoverable information (high risk, low gain).

You may want to read the documentation Shred files and wipe disks.

---
Andrew, lead developer

bumbleman123

Sun, 09/25/2011 - 02:01

Thanks for your help.

bumbleman123

Sun, 09/25/2011 - 02:02

So what remains of the file once it's been overwritten? Can you see the original file name or file header?

Thanks

andrew

Sun, 09/25/2011 - 20:57

With the Windows recycle bin and Windows 7 and BleachBit 0.9.0, a specialized tool ("ntfs undelete") could probably recover the metadata (filename) and file contents.

---
Andrew, lead developer

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 09/26/2011 - 10:18

I've tested this, if you open a your drive in a Hex editor (HxD for example) and find a file, then use the shred files option in bleachbit:

In windows 7 the shredder works and the file is replaced by gibberish.
In xp the file is just deleted.

Does anyone know if it works in ubuntu linux?

Thanks

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 09/26/2011 - 10:19

I've tested this, if you open a your drive in a Hex editor (HxD for example) and find a file, then use the shred files option in bleachbit:

In windows 7 the shredder works and the file is replaced by gibberish.
In xp the file is just deleted.

Does anyone know if it works in ubuntu linux?

Thanks

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 09/27/2011 - 01:45

I've just tested this in windows 7 with HxD and I can't see that it does anything.

Does this actually work in linux either?

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 09/27/2011 - 03:37

Give it a reboot, then check the sector to see if it's still there

andrew

Tue, 09/27/2011 - 09:57

In BleachBit 0.9.0 are you deleting an a file by clicking File - Shred Files? Is the file stored on a local NTFS drive? By "just deleted" you mean the contents are still there, and it is not shredded? What kind of file? Are you sure you didn't have redundant copies (which can happen when copying or re-saving a document), so BleachBit shredded one copy but another copy remained?

---
Andrew, lead developer