Could someone recommend the best application for wiping free space please. Ive used windows washer to wipe free space, but im not sure how effective it is. Are there any recommened programs?
Hi TVH May be that one: Heidi Eraser http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ or DBAN http://dban.sourceforge.net/
DBAN would wipe out the entire drive. I only want something to remove any remnants of deleted data by wiping out free space. ill try out eraser though. Anyone else got any recommendations? Not worried about price.
I had a friend who set eraser to wipe all empty space on the drive instead of files. As it overwrote all the unused space, system restore deleted restore points to compensate as the free space disappeared. Result was at the end all her restore points were gone.
I use Eraser also, though no longer use MS restore points. Could try this one http://www.east-tec.com/ Review here. http://www.softpile.com/Utilities/Security/Review_17328_index.html Seemed ok when I tried it a while back.
Another Vote for Eraser, I have been using Eraser 5.7 for years with complete satisfaction. I am trying this one http://www.pointstone.com/products/TotalPrivacy/ , I was looking for a all in one application to wipe everything at once. Version 5.3 Doesnt wipe Firefox and Opera as well as it does IE, it has different options(much less) in Firefox and Opera and I have doubts about the shredder for free space it goes to fast to do a good job erasing. I use DOD 7 pass for freespace, at that setting it takes 18 hours for Eraser 7 for Total privacy so something is fishy.The plugins for cleaning other programs doesn't work. I am going to ask for a refund. It is a 15 day trail, but very limited, I had to buy it inorder to unlock 3/4 of the features. I'm sorry for going on and on about this.
Using one pass of pseudorandom data to do a free space wipe on my 7200 rpm drives takes a bit less than one minute per GB with Eraser. That includes cluster tips.
East tec eraser works well, i got it as a freebie on giveawayoftheday.com a little while back, very handy!
I used Paragon Software's version of a secure eraser on a hard drive that I wanted to do a clean install on. After 8 hours of waiting I was able to do the clean install and found some of my old settings were sitting there waiting for me. My own opinion is to stay away from Paragon. Their support never bothered to respond to my help request. Good luck. Doc
Update on my earler post. I just received another email from Pointstone, Saying that my Refund will be issued shortly they also want to know what version of Opera I use. Emails before that centered on them trying to blame Opera or something I did to Opera like Opera Browser just came out last month or something. I don't trust these people to do what they say they are going to do, which is to send me a refund. So stay away from http://www.pointstone.com/products/TotalPrivacy/ too.
Thanks for your help. I still cant decide though lol. I think im going to go with cyberscrub priacy suite (its identical to east-tec eraser and has the functions im looking for.)
I'm guessing, by the vagueness of your statement, that you can't really tell me why this is better than the comination of CCleaner and Eraser. Unfortunately, I've installed this previously, I guess, because it says that my trial has run out but I've never used it.
I have not used eraser in a long time so I do not know if it has changed much. I use Ccleaner constantly to delete cookies etc But if I want to wipe something thoroughly, I use R-Wipe. You can wipe free space with several options. You have a choice of all Zeros, psuedo random, DoD 5220.22-M 3, DoD 5220.22-M 7, and Guttman 35. Then it goes over MFT on NTFS to wipe any info about files that are left behind. I can right click on a file or folder and wipe them also with the above options. It has other options. For one, your can wipe (not just delete) IE temp files, cookies, history, typed urls, stored text in forms, passwords in forms, stored web passwords, flash player cookies, and java files. You can wipe these with 3 passes, 7 passes etc... You can wipe them individually or collectively. Here are other options: Firefox: temp files, cookies, history, autocomplete, downloads, goodle search, yahoo search Opera: temp files etc.. System: Open file hisory, recent documents, system registry traces, MFU registry traces, Temp files documents, system temp files, recycle bin, clip board, invalid shorcuts, aux temp files, windows event logs, recent network folders, windows firewall log, prefetch traces, defragmentation list, stored explorewr view settiings, cached icons, cached fonts, cached GDI+ fonts, windows update logs, security management logs, stored network passwords Application Traces: adobe reader, backup utility, divx player, fax console, infraview, jasc, microsoft (excel and word and others), netmeeting, outlook, paint, remote desktop connection, windows media player, W movie maker, and word pad, and any other programs that you have installed You can also create wipe lists
Ccleaner now has the ability to secure erase files (3 or 7 pass). Also, you can use Eraser context menu entries to secure eraser individual files and/or folders.