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    Are deleted files on USB flash drives recovable?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by vaw, Oct 15, 2009.

  1. vaw

    vaw Notebook Deity

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    Hi, not sure where to ask this question, but this forum may be ok...

    I am sending a defective sandisk USB flash drive for replacement. I will of course erase all my files on it. My concern is, can anyone still recover my files like one can do on a hard drive? If so, what can I do to eliminate this possibility?

    Thanks!
     
    vaw, Oct 15, 2009
    #1
  2. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    Just like with a hard drive, the data on the USB drive won't actually be deleted until you write something over it. Otherwise, you can do a "low level" format, which is effectively like writing to the entire drive, and thereby overwriting any data that would have been left.
     
    Commander Wolf, Oct 15, 2009
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  3. vaw

    vaw Notebook Deity

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    Thanks Wolf. Do you know how long it might take to format or write an 8GB USB drive completely? (need to arrange my time)
     
    vaw, Oct 15, 2009
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  4. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    A matter of minutes. And your computer can still do other stuff while it's formatting, unless you're on a single-core Pentium II.
     
    Mastershroom, Oct 15, 2009
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  5. vaw

    vaw Notebook Deity

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    Thanks master. That sounds doable! :)
     
    vaw, Oct 15, 2009
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  6. vaw

    vaw Notebook Deity

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    OK so I just did: formatting, then used the 'eraser' program to write on the drive, then formatted twice again, then 'eraser' a 2nd time. Is it safe from being recovered now? :rolleyes:
     
    vaw, Oct 15, 2009
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  7. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    If you really want to be safe, you can fill up the drive with a big useless file.
    So that you are sure it has been fully written over.
     
    moral hazard, Oct 15, 2009
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  8. vaw

    vaw Notebook Deity

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    Writing once is enough? (I think eraser does just that)
     
    vaw, Oct 15, 2009
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  9. The_Moo™

    The_Moo™ Here we go again.....

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    Use winhex to check it out :)
     
    The_Moo™, Oct 15, 2009
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  10. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    personal data or illegal data??
     
    newsposter, Oct 16, 2009
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  11. spradhan01

    spradhan01 Notebook Virtuoso

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    I don't think that the companies will be interested in recovering your data unless you request them to do so because its their drive and it went bad(if on warranty).
     
    spradhan01, Oct 16, 2009
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  12. saeedN

    saeedN Notebook Guru

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    how can you recover your data from your flash disk?
    the apps that I have seen only support HDDs, and maybe external HDDs not flashs.
     
    saeedN, Oct 16, 2009
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  13. usapatriot

    usapatriot Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I'm beginning to suspect the OP had CP on his flash drive and that's why he is so concerned about file recovery.
     
    usapatriot, Oct 16, 2009
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  14. vaw

    vaw Notebook Deity

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    Maybe illegal? Why would you think anyone would mind their personal data being stolen?

    I have no idea what 'CP' stands for, but yep, why is one so concerned about file recovery??!!

    You guys are pathetic/paranoid or both.

    I agree the company wouldn't do that, but as we know there are those individuals who might be working for the company and have nothing better to do than looking for interesting files such as ss# in any discarded computer drives/disks.
     
    vaw, Oct 16, 2009
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  15. The_Moo™

    The_Moo™ Here we go again.....

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    USE winhex to mount it as a logical drive and try to find stuff
     
    The_Moo™, Oct 16, 2009
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  16. __-_-_-__

    __-_-_-__ God

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    the only way to really delete the data is to write it with all zeros or all ones. That's pretty difficult or almost impossible to recover.
     
    __-_-_-__, Oct 17, 2009
    #16