Problem recovering space on external HDD after deleting files?

Question

I have a USB-powered external hard drive. I was using it with one computer, and noticed when I deleted a large file from it, the available space did not increase. I found the file in the computer's recycle bin, and, when only after I deleted it from *there* did the available space on my external hard drive increase accordingly.

Here's the problem. Let's assume I deleted ANOTHER large file from this portable hard drive, but safely disconnected the hard drive afterwards. Now I'm using that external hard drive with a different computer, but the available size has not increased. Do I really need to reconnect with the first machine just to have it watch me delete this file from the recycle bin?

This oddball behavior kinda defeats the purpose of a "portable" device, does it not? What am I doing wrong here?

Answer 1

This is exactly how it should operate, and does so on anyone's computer. The recycle~ system folder on any drive is designed that way to keep you from deleting pointers to data that you accidentally delete & wish to persist. For instance, if you delete the pointer by emptying the Recycle Bin, you can still recover the file['s] by using software to scan the drive for data-types --- assuming you don't overwrite the data first. That is to say --- data is not deleted, only it's reference ("pointer") is deleted in the MFT.



When you delete something on a hard drive, you delete the pointer in it's MFT, not the actual data. The actual data is overwritten when you extend the data region, by putting something larger than the previous size on it. And the MFT references it with a pointer, a start position and end position. To permanently delete something, you must overwrite it with 0's, using specialized software, or corrupt the previous data by overwriting it in the above-said manor.



In Short:

You should always empty the recycle bin once you are confident your deletions should be permanent - only then will your device calculate a valid MFT file size. But that does not necessarily mean the data does not exist on the HDD. Hope that makes sense to you.

Answer 2

hmm. i never tried that.. i thought the external drive would have its own recycler folder and everything that comes with the bin. so if you delete and not empty bin then unplug. my guess is it will be in the external recycling bin still not emptied anywhere. kinda like looking for deleted files .... would they be in the cpu hdd that was used.. you are procrasinating too much go learn something.

Answer 3

I really don't have any idea and you've got mainly already achieved this, but have you gone again to your last repair point? It is probably not the external however the computers capability to read the outside will have been effected???