Submitted by unlikemike123 t3_z6wvdf in explainlikeimfive
DeHackEd t1_iy3mcrz wrote
Reply to comment by unlikemike123 in eli5 How is computer memory deleted? by unlikemike123
People often ask why deleting files is faster than creating files. The answer is because the bulk of the file's data is NOT erased, because that's considered wasted effort. When the new file comes along it will write over the data, completely unaware of what was once there. So actually blanking out the old data doesn't really accomplish anything and the "delete" is really fast by just dealing with the file listing paperwork.
...unless there's privacy concerns that warrant actually clearing the data, specifically because preventing undelete from being possible is the goal. This is sometimes called "secure delete". But if you're uninstalling a video game, who cares?
EcchiOli t1_iy3oori wrote
Mostly useless remark, quoting you,
> People often ask why deleting files is faster than creating files
That's the case for the most common operating systems. However, sometimes, with server hardware + software, it's working differently and deletion can take a long time, as with linux's ext4. It's still relatively fast, but much slower than the others nonetheless.
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