Eraser - Remove sensitive data from your hard drive

[Resurrection]

Eraser (http://eraser.heidi.ie/)


Eraser is an advanced security tool for Windows which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. Eraser is currently supported under Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Eraser is Free software and its source code is released under GNU General Public License.


Why Use Eraser?

Most people have some data that they would rather not share with others - passwords, personal information, classified documents from work, financial records, self-written poems, the list continues.

Perhaps you have saved some of this information on your computer where it is conveniently at your reach, but when the time comes to remove the data from your hard disk, things get a bit more complicated and maintaining your privacy is not as simple as it may have seemed at first.

Your first thought may be that when you 'delete' the file, the data is gone. Not quite, when you delete a file, the operating system does not really remove the file from the disk; it only removes the reference of the file from the file system table. The file remains on the disk until another file is created over it, and even after that, it might be possible to recover data by studying the magnetic fields on the disk platter surface.

Before the file is overwritten, anyone can easily retrieve it with a disk maintenance or an undelete utility.

There are several problems in secure file removal, mostly caused by the use of write cache, construction of the hard disk and the use of data encoding. These problems have been taken into consideration when Eraser was designed, and because of this intuitive design and a simple user interface, you can safely and easily erase private data from your hard drive.


Eraser Features

* It works with Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
o Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000 can still be used with version 5.7!
* It works with any drive that works with Windows
* Secure drive erasure methods are supported out of the box
* Erases files, folders and their previously deleted counterparts
* Works with an extremely customisable Scheduler

[Instab]

you might also wanna have a look at the other countless wipe apps

[anon]

HxD does the trick for file shredding here, though you're limited to five passes. However, I installed MicroXP and don't feel like reconfiguring it again, so I use SDelete now.

[Gapo]

Get Darik's Boot and Nuke | Download Darik's Boot and Nuke software for free at SourceForge.net (http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/) much better. But before you use it, encrypt your hard drive with PGP.

[Pickle]

Users generally doesn't see what is under their hands. See, ccleaner, delete all your files regularly then when you clean files with ccleaner choose wipe free disk space with tools -> drive wiper -> Free Space Only, you can go with 35 passes but i don't recommend because it takes to much time.

I had very bad times with eraser, personally i don't recommend it and i don't want to install it on any of my friends computer.

[Shelter]

I think it's good,because if u know what file it's distroyed because it's slow's your pc,data's Eraser it's good 2 cancell the files.I have'd problem with some mp3's ,when i was try 2 listen them my pc was verry,verry slow or block'd.Then i make'd a wrong thing to scan all the folder with Eraser,i was thinking that r more danaged mp3's and Eraser deleted all the files.The idea iz if u know that a file it's danaged erase only that!

[Resurrection]

I think it's good,because if u know what file it's distroyed because it's slow's your pc,data's Eraser it's good 2 cancell the files.I have'd problem with some mp3's ,when i was try 2 listen them my pc was verry,verry slow or block'd.Then i make'd a wrong thing to scan all the folder with Eraser,i was thinking that r more danaged mp3's and Eraser deleted all the files.The idea iz if u know that a file it's danaged erase only that!

I don't get it...what? :unsure:

@others
I really have never have had problems with Eraser.Its pretty easy as it is and I've read its a favorite of many...

I <3 simplicity...

Ofcourse the best way to destroy secure files is a

sledgehammer...


what?no takers?

[Shelter]

For example from a folder of mp3's Eraser calcell the all the files,it's not cancell only destroyed files!Happining to me!

[Gapo]

For example from a folder of mp3's Eraser calcell the all the files,it's not cancell only destroyed files!Happining to me!

You'll have to write more clearly. Eraser's intent is to destroy files. What are you getting at?
It seems to me you've used Eraser on a folder with MP3s. Now, when you let Eraser do its "magic", of course they won't work anymore. Even if you cancel, it merely isn't done. In return, you get files that aren't completely destroyed.

[Shelter]

I was thinking that Eraser make's first a skan of folder...and then deletes,only the denaged's files.Not the entire folder that haves alsou good's data.And yes....i used to a folder of mp3's...and the first 4 tracks's of the folder was danaged,then afther that 4 danaged tracks's the other's was play Ok...but i dind't listing the entire folder.....and i was thinking that maybe r other's danaged mp3's inside of folder.Sow i put Eraser....and i got withh all data deleted...alsou the good mp3's (: ...Windows could not deleted them!

[Renk]

Get Darik&#39;s Boot and Nuke | Download Darik&#39;s Boot and Nuke software for free at SourceForge.net much better. But before you use it, encrypt your hard drive with PGP.

I agree Darik's Boot and Nuke is one of the most reputable, and the procedure you describe (whole disk encryption then nuking) is very efficient.

I currently use BCWipe (http://www.jetico.com/wiping-bcwipe/). I like it because it not only wipes files, but it encrypts and wipes unused space in swap file and wipes records in the MFT as well, and because Bruce Schneier (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/09/file_deletion.html) said last year he was using it.

BCWipe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCWipe)

[Gapo]

I currently use BCWipe (http://www.jetico.com/wiping-bcwipe/). I like it because it not only wipes files, but it encrypts and wipes unused space in swap file and wipes records in the MFT as well, and because Bruce Schneier (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/09/file_deletion.html) said last year he was using it.

BCWipe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCWipe)

Neat find. Are you using BCWipe or BCWipe Total WipeOut?

[caballero]

I use the command 'cipher' in cmd to erase a file permenantly. It's a versatile command.

Here's a list of the parameters you can use with it:
Displays or alters the encryption of directories [files] on NTFS partitions.

CIPHER [/E | /D | /C]
[/S:directory] [/B] [/H] [pathname [...]]

CIPHER /K [/ECC:256|384|521]

CIPHER /R:filename [/SMARTCARD] [/ECC:256|384|521]

CIPHER /U [/N]

CIPHER /W:directory

CIPHER /X[:efsfile] [filename]

CIPHER /Y

CIPHER /ADDUSER [/CERTHASH:hash | /CERTFILE:filename | /USER:username]
[/S:directory] [/B] [/H] [pathname [...]]

CIPHER /FLUSHCACHE [/SERVER:servername]

CIPHER /REMOVEUSER /CERTHASH:hash
[/S:directory] [/B] [/H] [pathname [...]]

CIPHER /REKEY [pathname [...]]

/B Abort if an error is encountered. By default, CIPHER continues
executing even if errors are encountered.
/C Displays information on the encrypted file.
/D Decrypts the specified files or directories.
/E Encrypts the specified files or directories. Directories will be
marked so that files added afterward will be encrypted. The
encrypted file could become decrypted when it is modified if the
parent directory is not encrypted. It is recommended that you
encrypt the file and the parent directory.
/H Displays files with the hidden or system attributes. These files
are omitted by default.
/K Creates a new certificate and key for use with EFS. If this
option is chosen, all the other options will be ignored.

Note: By default, /K creates a certificate and key that conform
to current group policy. If ECC is specified, a self-signed
certificate will be created with the supplied key size.

/N This option only works with /U. This will prevent keys being
updated. This is used to find all the encrypted files on the
local drives.
/R Generates an EFS recovery key and certificate, then writes them
to a .PFX file (containing certificate and private key) and a
.CER file (containing only the certificate). An administrator may
add the contents of the .CER to the EFS recovery policy to create
the recovery key for users, and import the .PFX to recover
individual files. If SMARTCARD is specified, then writes the
recovery key and certificate to a smart card. A .CER file is
generated (containing only the certificate). No .PFX file is
generated.

Note: By default, /R creates an 2048-bit RSA recovery key and
certificate. If ECC is specified, it must be followed by a
key size of 256, 384, or 521.

/S Performs the specified operation on the given directory and all
files and subdirectories within it.
/U Tries to touch all the encrypted files on local drives. This will
update user's file encryption key or recovery keys to the current
ones if they are changed. This option does not work with other
options except /N.
/W Removes data from available unused disk space on the entire
volume. If this option is chosen, all other options are ignored.
The directory specified can be anywhere in a local volume. If it
is a mount point or points to a directory in another volume, the
data on that volume will be removed.
/X Backup EFS certificate and keys into file filename. If efsfile is
provided, the current user's certificate(s) used to encrypt the
file will be backed up. Otherwise, the user's current EFS
certificate and keys will be backed up.
/Y Displays your current EFS certificate thumbnail on the local PC.
/ADDUSER Adds a user to the specified encrypted file(s). If CERTHASH is
provided, cipher will search for a certificate with this SHA1
hash. If CERTFILE is provided, cipher will extract the
certificate from the file. If USER is provided, cipher will
try to locate the user's certificate in Active Directory Domain
Services.
/FLUSHCACHE
Clears the calling user's EFS key cache on the specified server.
If servername is not provided, cipher clears the user's key cache
on the local machine.
/REKEY Updates the specified encrypted file(s) to use the configured
EFS current key.
/REMOVEUSER
Removes a user from the specified file(s). CERTHASH must be the
SHA1 hash of the certificate to remove.

directory A directory path.
filename A filename without extensions.
pathname Specifies a pattern, file or directory.
efsfile An encrypted file path.

Used without parameters, CIPHER displays the encryption state of the
current directory and any files it contains. You may use multiple directory
names and wildcards. You must put spaces between multiple parameters.

As you can see, /W will do the job. It's kind of a low level format.
You have to delete the file normally then use

cipher /W directory

I tried using and then tested some good Recovery software and non of them could get the file

[Renk]

Neat find. Are you using BCWipe or BCWipe Total WipeOut?

BCWipe Total WipeOut is for wiping a whole hard drive. But for this purpose (in the rare circumstances I am giving my HD to someone) I use the Darik's Boot and Nuke CD you was speaking about. For everyday usage (wiping files, directories or free space), I use BCWipe.