#Computer file shredder software how to#

Then the reference to the file is removed from the directory area, using the same means-overwriting. If the material is extremely sensitive, the file may be overwritten 3 times. In essence, what a file shredder does is to overwrite the file. Even if the information is over written once, in many cases, the information underneath the top layer can be accessed, using sophisticated equipment. This works until the data is written over with other files, which may not happen for a long time.

#Computer file shredder software how to#

Someone who knows how to search computer files can fairly easily determine where the data is on the drive and recover the information. Many people do not realize that a computer file that is deleted doesn't go away, it still resides on the hard drive or disc-it just doesn't have a name any more, so there is no easy way to access it. The intent is to complete obliterate not only the file, but in the most secure file shredder software, any reference to the file that was shredded is also shredded in the history and in the directory. A computer file shredder was created for the same purpose as the paper file shredder.