Why need to empty Recycle Bin and delete all files from System Volume Information folder

This article explains, why it is necessary to clear Recycle Bin and System Volume Information folder before wiping free space.

Recycle Bin and System Volume Information folder was designed to make it possible to recover accidentally deleted files. To make it impossible to recover files, one should delete files from these folders. Shred Agent will suggest to do so before wiping free space.

Clear Recycle Bin

Before wiping free space space it's necessary to empty Recycle Bin. Actually, Recycle Bin in Windows is a special folder, when you move file into Recycle Bin they are not deleted, but moved to this folder.

So, files, located in Recycle Bin are not actually deleted, and the hard disk space is occupied by these files and cannot be wiped.

• Why you need Recycle Bin? To recover files if they were accidentally deleted.

• Why you need to empty Recycle Bin? To make it possible to wipe free space, occupied by these files.

• If Shred Agent will wipe files from Recycle Bin? Yes, when you empty Recycle Bin a simple deletion operation is initialized, so Shred Agent will wipe these files. You can see this in a log file.

• Will Shred Agent empty Recycle Bin? Yes, if you'd like to. Please, see Tools > Options menu. 

System Volume Information

After you will empty Recycle Bin copies of files will be moved to a special "System Volume Information" folder. Windows does this to restore system if some problem will occur. To make deleted files irrecoverable you should delete files from this folder. Before wiping free space Shred Agent will ask you for a confirmation, if it should delete files from System Volume Information folder or not.

Try it and Buy it

You can try Shred Agent for free. 30-days fully-functional version of Shred Agent is available for download. Before downloading, please, pay attention to System requirements. If you find Shred Agent useful, then you can purchase a license. Please, visit ordering page for more information. Need more information? Browse from the product home page.