>>54787163
You should learn how operating systems ``delete'' files first off, and then how HDD stores data secondly, and finally how forensic specialists examine HDDs.

The story isn't important at all to /g/, if you want to discuss legal ramifications and consequences go to >>>/pol/.

>>54787163
When something gets deleted rather than changing every bit to a zero they are just marked as deleted so the system knows that the bits can be overwritten in the future. This means when you hit delete in Windows the file is really just hidden until another one overwrites it.

>>54787163
It's like how the police can find items even though you've thrown them away. They look through the trash hoping you haven't emptied it recently.

>>54787163
Where a file is stored on a hard drive and where a file is in the file system are two different things. When you cut and paste a file to a different folder, it remains in the exact same place on your hard drive. All that changes is where your OS says the file is. Similarly, when you delete a file it stays in the same place. All that changes is that your OS tells itself the file is gone. However, that place where that file was is essentially free now because the hard drive can write over it at any time since that file isn't needed anymore. If you really want to fully delete something, you need to either fill up your hard drive with new files or, more simply, use a program that replaces deleted files with random data

>>54787163
- pastebin dot com is considered harmful. If you want to offer an alternative use archive.is
- when files are deleted their space is usually simply marked as free. Files are not really deleted until overwritten. Even then, there may be some other metadata (depending on the filesystem) laying around.