Even if you went to each person personally with your notice and said "read this" and waited for them to get to the end where it says "sign here if you have read the above" and dutifully sign, you will still get someone upset that you deleted their trash!

Ultimately, all you can do is say the equivalent of "I told you several times you trash would be deleted. You didn't believe me, but it *has* been deleted and that's that. You'd probably better believe me next time."

Wade.

Then you will be called, "non-accomedating" in your evaluation. I wish there was a pill that would allow geeks to tolerate idiots and PHB's (without side-effects such as addiction and drooling).

I wish there was a pill to allow idiots and PHBs to realize when they're being total dingbats and to pull their head in before it gets shot off. Naturally, they still wouldn't take it.

A compromise would be to tell them it will take a while to recover, and scramble it a bit before giving it back to them. Tell them, "things in the garbage rot, that's why it is messed up slightly." Maybe wipe rotten banana gunk on the diskette too.

If it's gone, it's gone. This is sometimes unavoidable. If they point-blank refuse to listen - which was my point - then they deserve everything they get coming to them. Of course, you should have the backing of your superiors before embarking on this, usually because they need to be willing to take the inevitable whinges. Especially when it is pointed out that they were given more than fair warning. It is harder to get called "non-accomodating" when your boss knows how far backwards you have already bent

Wade.