When you simply delete files with Shift + Delete or empty the Recycle Bin, the data will not be erased permanently, you just delete the reference of the data in the allocation table that you can’t find it. When writing or reading data, the magnetic property of platter surface can be changed to 1 and 0 by hard disks. Our files can be stored on the surface of magnetic and rotating platters in hard disk case. Hard drive is a kind of storage devices which is used to store digital data. If you are one of those people who are confused with the two, have a fresh look at the brief explanation bellow. Some people even consider both of them as one thing. Many users may have misunderstanding of data wiping and deleting. Just click the “OK” button to begin the cleanup.Difference Between Data Wiping and Deleting

If you want to play it safe, you can stick to deleting the items that Windows has already checked for you-most likely “Downloaded Program Files” (basically, temporary helper files for viewing specific web pages), “Temporary Internet Files” (a cache of old web pages stored on your computer to speed your browsing), and Thumbnails (the tiny icon images used for music, videos, pictures, and other documents on your hard drive, which your system can always regenerate later). In a second or two, the Disk Cleanup utility should open, complete with a summary of potential files to delete in your Windows “user” account and the grand total of disk space they’re using. Related: Slow PC startup? You Windows startup programs may be to blame If your PC has more than one hard drive installed, you’ll be asked which disk you want to sweep up. Next, click the System and Security heading, then click the “Free up disk space” link under the Administrative Tools section. Getting started with the Disk Cleanup toolįirst, right-click the Start menu in the bottom-left corner of the screen, then click Control Panel. The Disk Cleanup tool gives you a nice overview of all the junk files on your Windows 10 system, with files that you can delete without a second thought already checked. You can also click on other items in the list and decide whether you keep them or lose them after reading a brief description. The tool also found 274 MB of setup files used by Microsoft Office (which you don’t really need as long as you have your physical Office DVDs handy, or if you’re an Office 365 subscriber), 183 MB of “system error memory dump files” (which you can safely deep-six), and 164 MB of temporary Internet files, not to mention 116 MB of garbage sitting in the desktop recycle bin. You’ll find the Disk Cleanup tool in the old Windows Control Panel just right-click the Start menu to get there.Īmong the biggest space hogs that Disk Cleanup found on my system were several gigabytes worth of so-called “temporary files,” or spare data from my various programs that are supposed to be regularly purged.

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