PC Curb

Referring to Windows XP;

Files will still remain on your computer after you delete them and empty the recycle bin. These files can be recovered with particular software. Of course, there are pros and cons to this. People wanting to delete private data cannot easily do so and people who accidently remove wanted data (family photos etc.) can sometimes recover them.

-Programs to permanently delete files include:

File Shredder is a great freeware program used to prevent easy recovery of files. The program shreds files by rewriting them with random series of binary data multiple times. Although this is not a sure way to permanently remove a file, it is a lot safer than sending a file to the recycle bin and emptying it.

-Programs to recover files.

A freeware program called Office Recovery can be downloaded from here.

A trial version of Diskeeper can be downloaded here.

Recover My Files has a trial version but you cannot successfully recover anything without purchasing. More information can be found here.