I would recommending reading my question on IT Security about this issue. Basically, the information will be there until it is overwritten on the original device. If you want to make sure no one can recover it, you'll need to move the data around the blocks of your hard drive, or completely zero out your hard drive (which will delete your data).

Basically, Windows does not delete the data when you empty the Recycling Bin. It simply marks that area of the disk as "available", so that deletes are nice and quick. Once all the free space has been taken up, then Windows will start overwriting old sectors that were marked as 'Available' to the operating system. Linux, however, is not as easy for recovery. Windows is very resilient, as long as it hasn't been overwritten.

I'm sorry you had to find out that way about your ex, but I had a very similar instance, just with a cell phone instead of a computer.

I would recommending reading my question on IT Security about this issue. Basically, the information will be there until it is overwritten on the original device. If you want to make sure no one can recover it, you'll need to move the data around the blocks of your hard drive, or completely zero out your hard drive (which will delete your data).

Basically, Windows does not delete the data when you empty the Recycling Bin. It simply marks that area of the disk as "available", so that deletes are nice and quick. Once all the free space has been taken up, then Windows will start overwriting old sectors that were marked as 'Available' to the operating system. Linux, however, is not as easy for recovery. Windows is very resilient, as long as it hasn't been overwritten.

I'm sorry you had to find out that way about your ex, but I had a very similar instance, just with a cell phone instead of a computer.