When we empty our trash folder, where does that ''trash'' go?

[Jeeves]

where does the trash go after we ''empty" the trash folder

If you're beneath notice, a slow boat to the Philippines.
If you're somebody, to a sub-sub-basement server in Kiev.

 

[TheFrogger]

It is deleted. However, should someone develop some sort of, "time-travel program"; an algorithm that reverses the delete; a program that can know what the digits in the computer's memory were before they were zero (or whatever ascii character it is for "null carriage"), it could be useful.

 

[wegs]

You need a process that explicitly reformats the bits to 1 or 0 or random. Without that, the data is still there - temporarily.

And, for about 1500 bucks, you can take the drive to a service where they will recover as much as possible.

That’s a bit expensive. Hmm.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It is deleted. However, should someone develop some sort of, "time-travel program"; an algorithm that reverses the delete; a program that can know what the digits in the computer's memory were before they were zero (or whatever ascii character it is for "null carriage"), it could be useful.

Yeah, but you'd need Pleiades to do that. The parts of a file can be fragmented, located at different areas on a disc, and without knowing where the next fragment is the data is pretty much gone.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

So, a question: Do fragmented files get copied contiguously to the destination disk? Or only if the destination disk if freshly formatted? (I.e., right out of the box.)

 

[DaveC426913]

So, a question: Do fragmented files get copied contiguously to the destination disk? Or only if the destination disk if freshly formatted? (I.e., right out of the box.)

Generally, no. Copying gets processed through the file system - unless you do a "bitwise" copy - which literally makes a duplicate.

*caveat: my working knowledge of systems is pretty dated by now, so, for example "bitwise copying" might be an archaic concept.

 

[James R]

So, a question: Do fragmented files get copied contiguously to the destination disk? Or only if the destination disk if freshly formatted? (I.e., right out of the box.)

It depends on the copying process. Some software will just make an exact image of the original drive. Other software will read each file in turn and write a new copy.

In the ordinary case of copying a single file from one drive to another, if the original file is fragmented and the new drive is not, then the original file will end up as contiguous on the new drive. However, if the new drive is partially fragmented, then it is possible that the file will end up fragmented, but possibly in a different way than it was on the original drive.