Show files that have been deleted

Im playing around with Eraser and was thinking it would be nice if there was a program that would let you see what was on your computer that you have deleted but not erased, then you could go back and run the program again to see what was left if anything.

Did a little surfing and found
Disk Investigator
Pc Inspector File Recovery

Has anyone used these programs, if so what are your opinions and is there something else you would suggest for this purpose. Prefer Freeware but not ad or spy ware.

 

Phazor -

Let me point you one other place.

It is the home of LC Technologies. Home of a lot of Data Recovery and Forensic software. They have a program called "File Recovery" which, I think, is second-to-none. The university ended up buying the program to use it for actually undeleting files of any size. However, the nice thing is this: If you download the program you can use it (no time-limits) and it will show you what it found in its quick scan. It just won't undelete anything over 10k without buying the program.

Here's The Main Interface

http://members.cox.net/pcprivacy/filerecovery.jpg

This is the results screen (empty of course!)

http://members.cox.net/pcprivacy/filerecovery2.jpg


We used it for a long time just to check the effectiveness of "deleting" "wiping" "erasing" programs without making the purchase since it tells you "what's left" after an erasing job.

Give her a download:

http://www.lc-tech.com/Filerecovery.htm

It's very straight and simple, but if you have any questions - just write me or post. Hint: uncheck the box that says "include zero byte files"........let me know what you think!

John
Luv2BSecure

 

Ok..pick these two apart..had them in a file..maybe they were even posted here before


A program to recover erased archives:
The worthier programs of this type of mention are FileRestore ( http://www.winternals.com ) and Magic Recovery ( http://www.software-recovery.com )

 

Well, it all depends on what you want to do, right?

Phazor didn't want to actually delete files - he wanted to find, "a program that would let you see what was on your computer that you have deleted but not erased, then you could go back and run the program again to see what was left if anything. "

File Recovery allows a full scan and shows exactly what has been deleted and what has not - free. You would only have to purchase the program if you wanted to recover the files. If Phazor isn't wanting to actually recover deleted files, spending the forty or fifty dollars on programs like the Winternals program or Magic Recovery doesn't really make sense (or should I say "cents?".......

If you DID want to recover files, the two mentioned programs will show many and truly recover few if they have been "erased" by poor programs. Same with File Recovery - though it recovers things like Evidence Eliminator's "shredded" files --- the ones that even "hardware forensics" can't recover --- !!!!! It also pulled every single file out of the "wiped" temporary internet files wiped by something called, "UltraWipe"........

If you truly want to actually RECOVER data -- I don't even know a good runner-up to Easy Recovery Professional from OnTrack. The university has a copy and it is amazing. Of course it's not an "undeleter" like the other programs mentioned. But, we're not talking forty or fifty dollars either, we're talking $500.00 a copy.
http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecoveryprofessional/

Of course, even ERP or EnCase can't recover files wiped by Sami's ERASER and most good true "wipers"...

Have a good weekend!
John
Luv2Bsecure

 

Thank John,

The file recovery you posted costs:
FILERECOVERY for Windows (Single Machine License)

Includes English, German and Japanese Versions in 1 download
$59.00 FRW001

Maintenance for FILERECOVERY for Windows $15.00 FRMAINT
____________________________________________


Not cheap and will cost more than just a few cents


The two products I mentioned do go beyond..I do know they work as advertised. They are available at a cheaper price than you posts.

Recovery from bad wipes does present it's challenges for all the "commercial" products out there.

Easy Recovery Professional... Kinda puts the lid on it from the price standpoint.


Thanks for the consultation..seems to bear out the principle that if your truely want to recover..from human error..back up your data off board in real time..saves lots of headaches and heartaches..make the investment now and call it insurance..if you are trying to do the opposite..be careful what you do download, produce or store on your system in the first place... and if you get in a quandary about that..bite the bullet and destroy the hardware...methods to do that
better left for another thread.


Weekend is going great...same to you.

John

 

Sounds like a great idea for data under 10K Ghost...what types of data files were you able to recover on that trial version?

 

Hi. I'm reading this thread and I think Primrose is confused as to Phazor's original post. He doesn't WANT to recover any files so it doesn't matter if it's under 10k or over 10k . Luvsbsecure and Ghost are saying that Phazor can use FileRecovery to run the scan just to see what files that are deleted but recoverable. That shows Phazor whether the program he is using is really wiping the files. As Ghost said you can look at what is recoverable and erase with eraser or whatever other program. The trial allows you unlimited time to run these checks. Phazor doesn't WANT to recover anything, he only wants to see how effective his cleanup has been. FileRecovery does that FOR FREE. It was getting confusing Primrose, don't feel bad. Luv2bsecure and Ghost are correct though. You can check the integrity of your erasing program using FileRecovery in trial mode forever without ever having the desire to actually recover a file. I think I learned of this program and using the unlimited trial for this purpose here are Wilders. I think. Did I just confuse this further? I hope not. Good day! Brian.

 

No not confusing..and I knew he wanted to prove to himself that his program Eraser was doing a good enough job so that NOTHING could ever reconstruct them again..and if he found a program that could..I guess he would want to do a better job at erasing. In his post he is asking only about the deleted files getting them back. When he finds them will he want to keep them or erase them ?
I think he would want to clean them off as best he could.

I was not trying to help him recovery files..in particularly...John S. gave a nice lecture on that...but if a program could recovery any something on a hard drive that was erased..I guess one would want to get another Eraser.


Now did that confuse anyone?

 

Hi Phazor,

Of the programs you mentioned.. I have Disk Iinvestigator on a laptop around the place...the author of that product has this to say in his help files of that product...


How to clean your disk


Now that you have seen what can be discovered on your disk, you might want to see what you can do about cleaning it up.

Your disk can be cleaned with a program like Clean Disk Security. There are other programs which do a similar job, but I mention this one for two reasons:


1.   It does everything you need.

2.    I wrote it, so I know what it does.

Clean Disk Security can securely wipe clean all of the following:

-   Standard drive free space

-   File slack space (unused space in cluster tips)

-   Names of deleted files and folders

-   Files in the recycle bin

-   Recent files list and URL lists

-   Files in the Windows Temp folder

-   Internet browser cache files

-   Internet history records

-   Internet cookies

-   Windows swap file

-   Any files or folders that you specify

Download Clean Disk Security: http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/clndisk.html

 

- Disk Investigator -

Copyright Kevin Solway 2002

– Discover all that is hidden on your hard disk –

For all of FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS file systems
(Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2000, WinXP).

FREEWARE!

Introduction

Disk Investigator helps you to discover all that is hidden on your computer hard disk. It can also help you to recover lost data.


· Locate sensitive data with the search viewing functions
· Display the true drive contents by bypassing the operating system and directly reading the raw drive sectors
· Undelete previously deleted files.
· View raw directories, files, clusters, and system sectors
· View low level BIOS parameter block attributes
· View files through external applications
· Search files and raw clusters for content
· Verify the effectiveness of file and disk wiping programs

Software License

Disk Investigator is copyrighted software and is distributed as freeware.



Disclaimer

This software is provided as is and without warranty. The author assumes no liability for damages, either direct or consequential, which may result from the use of this product.



Contact

Disk Investigator Web Page: http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/dskinv.html

Clean Disk Security: http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/clndisk.html

Solway’s Software Page: http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/

 

Hey Everyone... Confused Confusion...HeHeHe He

Didnt mean to get everone in a uproar. Just to clarify.. my purpose was to be able to see whats on my computer that
i deleted (not erased) but is still hanging around. I dont want to buy a program, as i have no interest in recovering any data.

Think it was on this board that i read a post a while ago that someone said you could recover this data that was deleted, and they were testing different "File Erasing" programs to see what exactly did and didnt work. (by the way does anyone remember the outcome of that test of different programs)
Ive heard alot about Eraser and thought i would give it a whirl. But then i thought, how does one actually know if this thing is working, I was curious, did it or didnt it work. I was amazed just to learn that just because you delete doesnt mean its gone..
So i started the post to see what programs you could use to find these deleted but recoverable files. I found the two that i listed and gave them a whirl last night. I have not yet tried luv2besecure's recommendation.

Will be testing all 3 to see what is what.

Luv2besecure what version of file recovery do you have, those screen shots are nowhere near anything that i get with filerecovery.

 

Phazor,

If you go to http://www.lc-tech.com/filerecovery.htm you will find the program with almost the exact same screenshots as Luv2bsecure put up for you. I use that version and it works fine. But I just went to download that to make sure and you are right. This is very recent but they have released a new version with a different interface. It looks nice! It is really a "wizard" type UI. I just gave it a try and it's the same old FileRecovery in that it works like a charm. To do what you're wanting to do click on the first option. It will list all deleted files still showing up. As for another program like Clean Disk Security, go ahead and try it, but nothing beats Eraser. I have used CDS and it's fine. It also is not nearly as easy to use from the context menu as Eraser. No harm in giving it a try though. Good luck and let us know after a good wipe what gives. Brian.