No, purging and deleting are not the same. Purging is a process of removing all traces of a file or a program from a computer. It is a more thorough process than deleting, as it not only removes the file from the hard drive, but also removes any associated metadata and application data associated with the file. Deleting simply removes the file from the hard drive, but does not remove any metadata or application data associated with it. To purge a file or program, you should first delete the file from the hard drive, then use a specialized program to remove any associated metadata or application data.