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Commands - Differences Between Delete, Erase |
The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS
Problem
Symptoms: What are the differences between Delete, Erase, and Format? Solutions: The DOS commands ERASE and DELETE are the same. After a file is erased or deleted by using one of these DOS commands, only one character of the filename in the directory is changed. Specifically, the first character of the entry in the directory that contains the filename is replaced with the ASCII character number 229 (the sigma character). This character indicates to DOS that the file has been deleted. The actual contents of the file have not changed, and unless a file has been written over that particular sector(s), most of the information about the file is still intact. When a disk is formatted, the system information is erased, and information in the root directory is erased, but the actual contents of many files are probably still intact. Norton Utilities is famous for "undeleting" files that have been either erased/deleted or lost through formatting. If one has a need to erase files permanently, this must be done through a third- party program. It is not available in any current DOS commands. Again, Norton Utilities 5.0 allows permanent erasure with the WIPEINFO command. This will overwrite the information on disk with several writes of random data. Files are gone forever after such a procedure. |
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