To make sure a deleted file can't be recovered, you'll need to use a third-party shredding tool. Here's a look at three such free programs: Eraser, File Shredder, and Freeraser.

Duplicate-file-finding programs expect you to manually check each file for deletion. That’s not practical for Edward Derbyshire, who has “121,000 duplicates” to delete. Before I tell you how to delete ...

How to delete files and be sure they're really gone Regardless of whether it's an SSD storage device (pictured) or a classic hard drive, data is only properly deleted if it has been overwritten.