Erasing files in Ubuntu: other devices still see the files

[Dotan Cohen]

On 09/02/2008, debiani386 <debiani386 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dotan Cohen wrote:
>  > I have a 1GB USB memory stick. It had photos and text files stored on
>  > it, which I deleted on my Ubuntu (KDE) desktop machine. I then copied
>  > four video files to the stick and put it in my DVD player (which reads
>  > USB sticks as well). The photos and text files were still visible. I
>  > then removed the stick and placed in another Ubuntu (also KDE)
>  > machine, and all I could see were the video files.
>  >
>  > What gives? Why are these erased files still visible to other
>  > computers? And why can other Ubuntu machines not see the files? How
>  > can I be sure that sensitive documents that I've erased are in fact
>  > gone?
>
> because, if you just do a regular delete (ex, right click then delete,
>  move it to the trash can, or press the delete key on your keyboard),
>  ubuntu will create a .Trash file which is used to recover any deleted
>  files.

I pressed shift-delete. I did not move the files to the trash. Nor are
there any .files on the drive, so there is no .Trash file on the
drive. At least, not that I can see in Konqueror or Konsole (-a
option).

>  If you press Shift + Delete, it will bypass the trash can and will not
>  create a .Trash folder. I recommend you do the Shift + Delete action
>  only if you know that you will never use the file again.

That is what I always do when removing files from removable media.

>  Also, other ubuntu computers, by default, hide any files/folders with a
>  "." as their first character. thats probably why ubuntu, by default,
>  doesnt show the .Trash folder like other machines do
>  --cj

I do not see a .Trash file in either Ubuntu machine (even when looking
at .files or hidden files) nor on the DVD player (with USB input).

Dotan Cohen

http://what-is-what.com
http://gibberish.co.il
א-ב-ג-ד-ה-ו-ז-ח-ט-י-ך-כ-ל-ם-מ-ן-נ-ס-ע-ף-פ-ץ-צ-ק-ר-ש-ת

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?