Hello everyone, I just thought I'd add to the thread for this subject by stating that there is quite a good file shredder that is incorporated in any of the SpyBot Search and Destroy versions dating back for quite a while. In version 1.6, the program can be fount among the choices contained in the Tools submenu. When you press ENTER on the Secure File Shredder choice, you will be guided through the necessary steps that must be followed in order to securely overwrite any files whose sensitive contents are no longer wanted on the hard drive.
However, it cannot be sufficiently emphasized that great care must be taken in overwriting such files and folders to be certain that such material is no longer necessary for later use, due to the fact that once the files are securely overwritten, they are gone for good. The sensitive contents can be overwritten using a variable number of passes used by the program in overwriting the files and/or folders; the number of passes ranges from one pass to thirty-five passes. When thirty-five passes are used in the shredding process, maximum overwrite security is obtained. This equals, or, im many cases, exceeds the very high wiping standards as specified by the military for secure overwrites. Another thing to remember is that when the Gutman standard of using 35 passes is employed, secure overwriting can take a very longt time. Another program that can be used in wiping sensitive information from a hard drive or removable media is an application called Eraser. It is a free program that is relatively easy to use when the program help is carefully read and followed. I hope that this information has proven to be of some assistance. Thank you. Regards - -- Pat Acquaviva Joseph C. Lininger wrote: > Try sdelete from sysinternals. It's a command line tool, but runs in > windows. You can get it at: > http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx > That being said, be very careful about this. If you're going to send a > machine some place, and you know there is data on the hard disk(s) you > know you don't want to be seen by others, you should assume you don't > actually know where every file of that nature is on the disk. For > example, think temporary files, or copies of files kept in free space > once a new copy was made like your mail program might do. I'm not saying > it's a bad idea to wipe selected files, just consider whether or not you > would mind if someone were to search your drive and possibly find things > you hadn't thought of. > -- > Joseph C. Lininger, > <[email protected]> > If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original > sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and > your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending > your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. > All GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo, and can > be searched through and sorted using the search > form at the bottom of the page. > If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to > [email protected] and include leave gw-info in the body > of the message. If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. All GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo, and can be searched through and sorted using the search form at the bottom of the page. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to [email protected] and include leave gw-info in the body of the message.
