sDelete: Permanently Delete File in Windows
You need to use SDelete which, implements the Department of Defense clearing and sanitizing standard DOD 5220.22-M, to give you confidence that once deleted with SDelete, your file data is gone forever. Visit this page to grab sDelete (47KB).
It works on following Microsoft operating systems:
- Client: Windows XP and higher.
- Server: Windows Server 2003 and higher.
Once downloaded open command prompt by visiting Start -> Run -> Type cmd and press [Enter] key.
To delete all data stored in a file called c:\docs\finical.xls, enter:sdelete -p 10 -z c:\docs\finical.xls
To delete all data and files stored in a directory (folder) called c:\docs\excel, enter:sdelete -p 10 -z c:\docs\excel
sDelete Quick help:
Usage: sdelete [-p passes] [-s] [-q]
sdelete [-p passes] [-z|-c] [drive letter]
-c Zero free space (good for virtual disk optimization).
-p passes Specifies number of overwrite passes.
-s Recurse subdirectories.
-q Don't print errors (quiet).
-z Cleanse free space.
