Recently, I used Google images. Later, while using a data recovery program, I discovered that about 160 of these google images had ended up on my hard drive. I didn't download any of them. I don't think I even scrolled down the Google display. Despite wiping the cache they are still there. Would really welcome some basic advice on how they got there and how long they stay there (before cleaning the drive). Thanks

Temporary files or ... someone else used the pc . Deletion of files doesn't clean physically the space where the files were placed. If you want to get rid of them, use a program that wipes the unused space of the disk or, for complete erasure of the disk, zero fill the drive (will loose everything !!)

Thanks for your response. I appreciate your comments and I know how to get rid of the images with Shredit or a similar software. What I don't understand is how the complete display of images arising from the search ended up on my drive. Perhaps the browser (Firefox) is designed to collect as many links as possible in case I repeat the search and download other images. I can't see any other explanation.

yes maybe the page was loaded completely with related content into cache.