Recuva finding unseen files

[phyzix]

i used recuva to see how much junk was on my computer and wow. there is stuff on there that i had no clue was on there. i have pictures of other peoples vacation photos,school photos, party photos, ect. i have never seen these people ever in my life and im not quite sure how their photos got onto my computer. also there was quite a few of p0rn pics on there 0,0. i have never in my life downloaded nor visited a p0rn site, so how did that crap get on my pc? this is starting to frustrate me.

[Anupam]

I hope you do know that Recuva is used to recover files that have been deleted.

That said, did you purchase your computer first hand, or you got it from someone... or the hard disk.

Or, your computer might have been used by anyone else.

But, you do not have to worry about this all, since those files are deleted, and are not on the system physically, unless you have recovered them via Recuva to the hard disk.

[phyzix]

i bought my computer new from best buy. im not sure if hp reuses HDD. anyways i used recuva to see how good eraser was doing erasing my files. im the only one that uses my computer and alot of the photos im seeing i have never seen before. im just curious to how they get on my computer.

[Anupam]

Its a possibility that you bought a used computer, or, the hard disk in there was a used one. That seems to be the only reason.

[Remah]

[QUOTE=phyzix;65690how did that crap get on my pc? [/QUOTE]

Look at the Recuva file info to give you a better idea where they came from. If there has been a lot of activity since they were deleted then less info will be available.

What is the file path?

• If the files are saved in a temporary folder or an application data folder then check to see if it is an application that you have used.
  Examples of folders for user "USER" in Windows XP might be:
  C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings \Temp is a Windows temporary file location
  C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Application Data\\Mozilla is used by Firefox Browser
• If the files are saved under your user account then either you/yours saved them or you haven't changed the user account the system was originally setup with. From memory, any old user accounts that have been deleted will not show in the file path so check the file dates instead.

What is the last modified date?

• If it was before you bought the PC then they are not yours.
• If they are after you bought the PC then you/yours have used them.

[phyzix]

i knew about that. i checked and there was absolutely no data on them. the file location said c:\?.

[Remah]

Originally Posted by phyzix

i knew about that. i checked and there was absolutely no data on them. the file location said c:\?.

You would have saved me some typing by saying so earlier.

Is this PC on a home/work network or is it standalone connecting to the Internet directly though a modem.?
Who else is able to access your system, ie who has physical access and who has logical (password) access?
Are you or have you ever used any peer-to-peer (P2P) software that stored files on your system?
Have you ever had any malware problems?

[phyzix]

- im the only one that uses this computer.

-its a home computer.

-no one has access to this computer and never used p2p that i know of.

-possibly about the malware problems. i have had quite a few viruses.

since im having to sort through a million something files. im starting to notice even though i use ccleaner and my chrome browser is set to not save cache and cookies. im finding alot of pictures, youtube videos, facebook pictures in recuva. i thought ccleaner was suppose to wipe the cache and cookies?

[Remah]

Originally Posted by phyzix

since im having to sort through a million something files. im starting to notice even though i use ccleaner and my chrome browser is set to not save cache and cookies. im finding alot of pictures, youtube videos, facebook pictures in recuva. i thought ccleaner was suppose to wipe the cache and cookies?

You are finding these files with Recuva which means that they are deleted files so CCleaner has done its job by deleting them. If you also want free disk space wiped then you need to check that option in CCleaner. There are two ways to do it:

1. As part of your normal clean by selecting = Cleaner > Advanced > Wipe Free Space
2. Using the separate wipe tool = Tools > Drive Wiper > Free Space Only

[Remah]

Originally Posted by phyzix

- im the only one that uses this computer.

-its a home computer.

-no one has access to this computer and never used p2p that i know of.

-possibly about the malware problems. i have had quite a few viruses.

Then I'd say the files were probably on the disk before you bought the PC. There are many ways that could happen but you would need serious forensic systems to narrow it down.

I'm supposing you'd probably remember if you had malware that was using your computer as a halfway house. If you have broadband then your usage would usually increase noticeably.