I have several photos on my hard drive that I want to remove so they cannot be recovered with file-recovery software. I still need to keep other files on the same drive, so wiping or destroying the entire drive is not practical. I also want to make sure copies are not still stored in backup or synchronization services. Would securely deleting the files, overwriting the free space, or leaving corrupted versions accomplish this?
4 Answers
Make sure you remove every synchronized or backed-up copy too. Temporarily disable syncing, delete the photos from services such as cloud storage or network backups, empty their recycle bins or trash, and then check each service before enabling synchronization again.
The best method depends on the drive type. Secure deletion is more predictable on a spinning hard drive; SSDs use wear-leveling, so individual-file wiping may not reach every physical copy. For an SSD, use the manufacturer’s secure-erase or sanitize feature, after backing up anything you want to keep.
If the files are extremely sensitive, encryption is another option: encrypt the drive and securely destroy the encryption key. Physically destroying the drive is the most certain method, but it means losing all the other files on it as well.
If you need to keep other files, wiping the entire drive with a tool such as DBAN is not the right option. For a traditional hard drive, use a reputable secure-delete utility and then overwrite the drive’s unused space. Simply deleting the photos, renaming them, or corrupting them does not reliably prevent recovery.
Related Questions
Can't Load PhpMyadmin On After Server Update
Redirect www to non-www in Apache Conf
How To Check If Your SSL Cert Is SHA 1
Windows TrackPad Gestures