Computer peeps, Hotmail/E-card question

[never cry wolf]

Ok, for those who may understand these things a bit better than I. I know that when you delete a file it's not really deleted but can be found again forensically, to get rid of that you need a disk wipe (file shredding) program.

My question is about hotmail or one of the many e-card services where the messages are on a web page. If you don't hook up your hotmail account to outlook or some such mail program are the messages themselves ever really on your hard drive? If you were to clear your browser history is there any way to read a hotmail message from your hard drive that was deleted, short of a court order to browse hotmail's servers?

Thanks ahead of time for any insight!!

[Maine-i-acs]

1. If it was deleted, it can be recovered -

- like any other deleted file. You will be looking for names like:

getmsg<1>.html

or something similar.

If the drive is formatted or scrubbed with third-party software, you're hosed.

If not, a program like Easyrecovery can dig it up.

[Foehammer]

2. Yes ..sometimes

Web pages are on your HD in Cache.
There are Software tools to find Deleted Files on a HD, even after a Format or Diskwipe.
I've been asked as a PC Tech to find many files lost on HD through the years. Sometimes I find the file some times not.

[never cry wolf]

3. Thanks, both of you....n/t