What is Secure Empty Trash

[fjs08]

Friend who has had his Mac for a few weeks said he used Secure Empty Trash and had a thousand files in there.

I've had my Mac for over 4 years and the light isn't even lit to empty it??
What exactly is it.

He said he doesn't have anything "secure" that is being deleted.

Thanks.

Frank

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Which "light" hasn't lit yet?

Even after you empty the Trash, deleted files may still be recovered by using special data-recovery software. To delete files so that they cannot be recovered, choose Finder > Secure Empty Trash. Files deleted in this way are completely overwritten by meaningless data. This may take some time, depending on the size of the file. To prevent the recovery of files you deleted previously, open Disk Utility (in Applications/Utilities), choose Help > Disk Utility Help, and search for help on erasing free disk space.

from http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh475.html
via "secure empty trash"

In short, Secure Empty Trash overwrites the files in Trash, therefore they are not recoverable.

 

[fjs08]

>>Which "light" hasn't lit yet?<,

Secure Empty Trash light. It's grey'ed out.

Frank

 

[simsaladimbamba]

>>Which "light" hasn't lit yet?<,

Secure Empty Trash light. It's grey'ed out.

Frank

Do you mean the one glowing blue in the following screenshot?

Have you enabled "Empty Trash securely" in Finder > Preferences >> Advanced?
Have you tried the Action menu (glowing red)?

 

[brijazz]

he doesn't have anything "secure" that is being deleted

"Secure empty trash" doesn't refer to the items that are being deleted; it refers to the manner in which they're being emptied from the trash. When you do a normal emptying of the trash, it's possible that the deleted items could be recovered by a file-recovery utility later on. When you "securely" empty the trash, any such recovery becomes impossible.

 

[fjs08]

>>Have you enabled "Empty Trash securely" in Finder > Preferences >> Advanced?<<

Never did. didn't know it even existed.

>>oesn't refer to the items that are being deleted; it refers to the manner in which they're being emptied<<

Ahhh, one of the reasons I asked is that my Mac runs pretty slow.
I was thinking there might be tons of files somewhere that need to be deleted.
Thanks

Frank

 

[mstrze]

Have you enabled "Empty Trash securely" in Finder > Preferences >> Advanced?

Hmmm...Empty Trash Securely has always been an option for me on my iMac. I didn't even know you needed to turn it on...or that you could turn it off. I mean, why even turn it off? I have the option in both right-clicking the trash, or in the pulldown menu of either emptying trash or securely emptying trash. i usually do it 'non-securely' but there have been some financial files that I have securely deleted.