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she doesn't really know how to remove files I guess. she should have just removed the hard drive.

The RIAA is many things, but stupid isn't one of them. They fully expect that people will try to delete data off their computer, and account for that. The FIRST THING they do is run some very expensive data recovery software (at a hardware level, they pull the HD from the machine so it never even gets booted) to determine whether you've deleted any files. It's very difficult to completely erase all traces of a file from your computer, and many of the higher end hardware recovery solutions can recover data even if it's been overwritten once or twice. If nothing is found, the SECOND thing they do is a pattern search on the empty spaces to determine whether you've run any software annihilation programs. If you did so, they'll find it and you can expect the judge to be very upset that you deleted files in an unrecoverable manner. We're talking contempt charges if you can't prove some other need for it.

If neither of those routes turns anything up, they start trying to verify that the HDD is actually real. They look at the write dates for the OS, installation dates for all the files on your computer, and dates on files cached both within your browser and for changes in your email storage files. A recreated drive is almost always caught once they do this...if everything was installed on the same date, or on two or three days, it's a good sign that the harddrive was recreated. A drive that actually gets used will have a steady progression of file create and modification dates, almost like fingerprints of constant use. While someone skilled in computers COULD recreate that, it would take an enormous amount of time and effort. Since most subpoenas don't give people much time (24-48 hours as I understand), very few people could pull it off.

FWIW, that's how this lady got caught. She knew a little about computers and figured that reformatting and reinstalling her OS would be enough to destroy the evidence. The forensic analysis didn't find any files, but it clearly demonstrated that everything had been installed on a single day, and that the PC showed no signs of actually being used for any amount of time. Since the PC was a few years old, this was a dead giveaway that she'd reformatted it. She was charged with contempt and jailed for her effort.