Secure Empty Trash

[muffinpixel]

Basically, I am 'securely emptying my trash' as we speak. With that said, why exactly does it say that it currently has to empty around 400 something files? Does that include every single file I've deleted in the past, not using the 'secure empty trash'?

Also, once if I deleted my download history, not using 'secure empty trash', is there a way to retrieve it and use 'secure empty trash' to empty it once again?

I'm just a little confused about the 400 something files being deleted using 'secure empty trash'.

Thanks!

 

[MacOCD]

Did it say 400 files or items? Because it doesn't delete previous trashed files. It probably said items not files, and one document is more than one "item". I don't exactly know what it means by items though.

 

[muffinpixel]

Should I be concerned about previous files that I did not delete via the 'secure empty trash' option? Will the HD overwrite those files over time?

 

[Mackilroy]

Don't worry about it. You're correct, OS X will simply overwrite them as time passes.

 

[rjt1000]

Disk utility allows you to "erase free space" if you want to write over previously deleted files.