How can I recover past deleted files..?

Thanks sparrow, I always wondered why some machines (where it had been upgraded and format later coverted) had both; but the recycled always remained empty.

 

Oh, OK. I didn't see anywhere in the thread that said the bin had been emptied. Must of missed it.

Jay

 

Now I'm confused: the original post asked

but it's title asks

I guess we've answered both, but thought I'd mention that Norton's Wipe (and probably other similar programs) actually overwrites the file immediately, rather than waiting for normal file acquisition to do so indiscriminately and uncertainly. It still leaves the space available for another file.

However that type of program must be used while the file can be accessed, i.e., before it's deleted. A hard disk editor can be used to change the delete character that replaces the first letter of the file name to make the file visible again so it can be "wiped" properly. There is software available for win98 to do that, e.g., Norton's Undelete. There are several for NTFS but haven't tried them personally. Here's some free and shareware ones to try.