Best Eraser

I have been using R-Wipe for some time now and I am quite happy with it.

 

Has anyone tried "Data Destroyer" from Hermetic Systems? What do you think about it?

http://www.hermetic.ch/dd/dd.htm

 

Haven't tried this one, but with so many good options already, I think we're about at the remaking the wheel stage.

 

I've seen a lot of people mentioning an eraser, then looking at the results with WinHex. Why not just use WinHex as your primary eraser? It worked for me in the past when I was in the market for one (prior to full system encryption). It can do free space, slack space, and file tables. The only thing it doesn't do is wipe traces from specific programs.

 

Good choice, SafetyFirst. In the US, where you're guilty until proven innocent, Evidence Eliminator on your computer could indeed be the death blow. No doubt about it. Having encryption software on your computer in the US could be enough for 20 years in prison. Stay far away.

Addendum: I just received a PM informing me that in the US, you're actually innocent until proven guilty. How could I have made that mistake? I guess I was just observing how the legal system actually conducts itself rather than reading the way the laws are written. I guess I stand corrected.

 

Shoot. What death blow. Your PC is more likely to experience a death blow then some suspicion from the government when it comes to EE.

I liked it a whole lot, but it done a real good number on my drive, guess it's more geared toward total elimination rather then just some privacy wiping.

EASTER

 

A key obstacle is the fact that WinHex can only erase Master File Table entries on a volume that it can lock for exclusive access, because it performs raw writes to the disk in this operation. With Windows Vista, locking the operating system volume in this way is not permitted. Therefore, WinHex isn’t a realistic, full-featured eraser solution with Windows Vista at this time.

 

I see. Well, I hope you're being forced to use Vista, and it's not a personal choice. Personally, I'm going to skip Vista altogether and see what Microsoft can come up with next. In order for Vista to amount to anything, they would have to keep it active for as long as XP was. It takes Microsoft at least 3 year (possibly 4) after the release date to make an operating system usable. Since Microsoft plans to release its new operating system in 2009/2010, the writing is on the wall for Vista. If they plan to do this with every new operating system they release, then the writing is on the wall for Microsoft.

Vista probably will not supplant XP as the most used operating system in the world before the new Windows is released. There will be more software and more hardware compatible with XP by the time the new Windows comes out. And for the life of me, I cannot think of a new feature implemented in Vista that cannot be readily added to XP. What justifies the bloat, both in terms of hard drive space and system resources? The only answer I can come up with is that it was simply time for something new from Microsoft.

Okay, I realize that was an off-topic rant. But I hate it whenever future events force you to downgrade, whenever you lose capabilities you once had. And hardware makers are no better, dropping support for XP the second Vista came out, for the most part.

 

Just wondering, what's the conclusion to RESTORATION's "delete unused space"? What does it do?
Has anyone tested it with the Hex comparing method suggested?

 

I use Eraser from heidi.ie

It's free and does the job.

There is no need to use anything else, because Eraser does what it's meant to do.

Why pay for something that Eraser does for free?

If anyone here claims that Eraser is not good enough to fulfil the objective of erasing files beyond retrieval, then I will put out a challenge for you to prove it.

Any willing participant?

P.S Evidence-Eliminator is one of the biggest scams to hit the security community. It is a marketing scam! I am always surprised and stunned why people are so gullible and naive to have been convinced that this product is worthy of paying money for it, when all along they could be using free alternatives.

 

Truthseeker, since you are the individual making the claim about Eraser, the responsibility to prove or disprove the assertion falls to you and not to others. I encourage you to test Eraser by using WinHex to examine your files/disk/$MFT before and after an erase operation, to ensure that the utility is operating as expected, and post your results in this thread.

 

I disagree. It is up to any person who claims Eraser is not good enough to prove that they can restore or retrieve a file that I will personally wipe using Eraser.

 

Truthseeker, I infer from your reply (post #87) that you personally have performed no independent tests of the efficacy of Eraser using WinHex or another similar tool. If that is the case, then your statements about Eraser are simply a repetition of the marketing pabulum for the product and not credible evidence. As a consequence, it appears that you have beliefs about Eraser – but not knowledge.

Using WinHex to evaluate an erase utility is fun. Why not give it a try?

P.S.: I have no reason not to believe that Eraser is effective. I simply value insight more than opinion on these matters.

 

Ok, fair comment Thank you.

 

I use Eraser and it works perfectly

 

That is the first time that I have ever heard anyone suggest that having something like truecrypt is illegal in the US. I don't think that is true.

 

For those who may be interested (and ignore the nonsense talked about it) you can ger a 50% discount on EE from here:

http://www.eliminator-evidence.com/evidence_eliminator_download.htm

And, no, Im not linked to the company in any way, just know its a good product.

 

I'm torn myself over EE because i tried it for a while and it really knows how to burn down excess, especially even so-called deleted files to zero bytes somehow. I confirmed this with various recovery tools, it literally toasts them, then something went out of whack on the drive i was using it on.

Contrary to popular speculations, i don't think a user needs concern themselves so much with the number of writes as much as the algorithms and methods employed by wiping apps. EE was pretty darn fast but then this is not exactly my area of best knowledge in these things, although the results were undeniable.

 

I just started using this program yesterday. If you have a big hard drive, beware the temptation to use more than a couple overwrites of free space at most, lol. I just now had to stop manually a 9 pass overwrite that was started yesterday afternoon. Other than that, I agree with Easter, this thing cleans everything but the kitchen sink (and there is probably a hidden option to even do that).

 

Ok, I no longer recommend even screwing with these programs. Every time I run Evidence Eraser, Eraser, or others, I end up missing plugins, the drive slows down, error messages (windows explorer crashes happen a lot), all sorts of crap happens. Running the free space wipe in particular just really messes things up. You have to run programs like this with extreme caution IMHO. If you need to get rid of things that bad, run a nuke program and reinstall the OS, once again, IMHO.

 

I've used Erase unused space with Eraser and have never experienced such problems.

 

I have the worst luck with security programs, I swear. I'm jinxed I'm not sure why these erasing programs do what they have done, I read both Erasers and Evidence Eliminators manuals multiple times to make sure I knew what I was doing before I started playing with options and such. Glad I don't have anything to hide

 

I don't call it "having the worst luck" - I call it total disregard for your own computer when you d/l and run EE after having been warned over-and-over about the product.

Astounding. Pete

 

Um, well now, lol. First of all, I DO care a lot about my system or I wouldn't constantly hang around here getting opinions from very smart folks and figuring out what software is going to best protect me and my interests while also being suitable for my particular usage. Second, EE has NOT been deemed a total crap product here in these forums. Some have had issues, some have not and like the product and have tested and proven it does what it claims to do.

I used it, it caused issues, I'm done using it. It was merely an extra step in my security setup. I said what I said about not recommending it and others like it due to my displeasure with how it worked out for me. I cannot PROVE that it will harm everyone elses' system. If I had seen all these supposed warnings from members here, I would not have used it.

 

http://www.malwarebytes.org/roguenet.php?id=206

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1246549&postcount=64

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1247594&postcount=66

http://radsoft.net/resources/rants/20060509,00.shtml

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1248384&postcount=72

So - you're just reading part of this thread?