freeware file wipe utility

R

rello

hi all,
i am looking for a freeware utility that can securely delete files,
wipe windows xp swap file and wipe file slack in ntfs volumes
thanks in advance for your advice
relloman
 
B

buzz Light Beer

The best free one that I know of is Eraser, it works with all the windows
operating systems. You can find it here:
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ Enjoy.

And better than any payware deleter I have used.
I have tested trial versions of many commercial deleters and have been
able , in most cases , to undelete the files w/ Directory Snoop. Never
been able to recover any file deleted by Eraser.
Directory Snoop will only show :
path< actual path> , file name: xyscz.iz (scrambled) file size:0,
last accessed 1980-01-01..00:00:00:00, , last modified
1980-01-01...00:00:00:00 when deleted by Eraser. Most other deleters
will show the actual path, file name, file size, actual dates,
etc....even w/ multi-pass.
Directory Snoop <payware> will allow to purge the remnants.
While this will keep most people from recovering sensitive data, It is
still vulnerable to expensive forensic tools. ( i.e., forensic
microscope, etc..)


bLB

=====================================================================
"Always enter your own address into your address book.
That way, if you get a virus that sends out emails, you'll get a copy.
You'll already be infected, but at least you'll know about it."

======================================================================
Free video ID apps

MpegProperties
http://www.medialab.se/mpgprop_e.html

GSpot
http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

MovieID
http://www.geocities.com/cplarosa/movieid/

AVIcodec
http://avicodec.duby.info/
 
P

Paul Gravano

I agree. Eraser is the best I have found. I looked for files erased with
eraser using Several recovery programs and none were successful in
reconstructing the files.
 
M

Max Mustermann

Eraser is great

I agree. Eraser is the best I have found. I looked for files erased with
eraser using Several recovery programs and none were successful in
reconstructing the files.
 
M

me

Sting said:
The best free one that I know of is Eraser, it works with all the windows
operating systems. You can find it here:
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ Enjoy.

Well, I would add a word of caution here.

Recently downloaded Eraser Ver. 5.7 and installed it. Never could get
it to run quite the way I thought it should--could be my own stupidity.
And, the shell extension links in the
right-click context menus in Windows Explorer just disappeared after a
bit. Also I began to have problems booting my system, so I decided to
uninstall Eraser, as that was the most recent change to the system.

After the uninstall was when my REAL problems began. At boot time, the
system would hang after getting most of my desktop constructed, and I
would get a message that "Zone Alarm is trying to start VSMON" but
having problems--do I want to cancel that? When I clicked Cancel,
nothing would happen--I mean NOTHING. The system would hang solid.
The
mouse pointer would move, but I could not get any action from clicking
any icon, not even the START button. I could do the old "3 finger
salute" and bring up the Task Manager, where I would see VSMON as "Not
Responding". Also, the Microsoft Office Shortcut Bar would be listed
as
"Not Responding". Clicking End Task for either of those would then
bring up the window saying the task would not end, etc. Clicking
Shutdown would bring up a seemingly endless chain of the "Task Will Not
End" windows, and the system would hang solidly. It would not even
respond to CTL+ALT+DEL. The only recourse was the Reset button.

All of this after I installed, then uninstalled Eraser I thought about
looking at the list of
modules used by Eraser (from the ERASER.LGC) file, and comparing their
dates with the originals on the Windows install disk (5/11/98), with an
eye toward corrupted system modules. I could also run SFC, but there
might be other modules changed by other software which that would
damage. Finally got all running well by preventing Zone Alarm from
starting at Startup, AND all the Office stuff. Deleted the contents of
C:\WINDOWS\APPLOG so all that could start from scratch. Eventually
started Zone Alarm manually--it would balk every once in a while with
the VSMON hang. After a day or so, that disappeared, and I set ZA to
start at boot time again. All has been well for a few days.

I run an essentially unpatched W98FE system, which has been stable with
no glitches since I rebuilt it back in March this year. I also run AVG
Free
version and Zone Alarm Pro, Ver. 2.6.231. (Before you turn up your
nose
at the old version, it has worked with everything I do--faithfully--for
a long time!) I use either Mozilla or Netscape to surf the web, and
Netscape Messenger for mail and news group browsing. Also regularly
run
Adaware, Spybot S&D, and CWShredder. So, I feel pretty confident that
my system is bug free.

So, I suggest that you back up your system before you try Eraser.

Stranger
 
C

Col.Steve Austin Ret.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Sting said:
The best free one that I know of is Eraser, it works with all the windows
operating systems. You can find it here:
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ Enjoy.

Well, I would add a word of caution here.

Recently downloaded Eraser Ver. 5.7 and installed it. Never could get
[snip]

So, I suggest that you back up your system before you try Eraser.

Stranger

Just offhand, I'd say it's a good idea to avoid Eraser like the plague and
try something like the freespace wipe utility in PGP 6, 7, or 8

Tho I don't know if it deals with file slack or not.



- --
my email address is bogus, do NOT use it.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This message was posted via one or more anonymous remailing services.
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for abuse and hashcash info.
 
J

J. Yazel

Well, I would add a word of caution here.

Recently downloaded Eraser Ver. 5.7 and installed it. Never could get
it to run quite the way I thought it should--could be my own stupidity.
And, the shell extension links in the
right-click context menus in Windows Explorer just disappeared after a
bit. Also I began to have problems booting my system, so I decided to
uninstall Eraser, as that was the most recent change to the system.
===== SNIP =======

I also recently installed Eraser and had bad results.

I have deleted it and cleaned the system registry.

Jack
 
E

enigma

J. Yazel said:
I also recently installed Eraser and had bad results.

I have deleted it and cleaned the system registry.

Jack

It's been working fine for me, I use it on two machines, one being a
business machine. Iv'e run it several times on win xp with no problems?
 
F

Frank Bohan

Well, I would add a word of caution here.

Recently downloaded Eraser Ver. 5.7 and installed it. Never could get
it to run quite the way I thought it should--could be my own stupidity.
And, the shell extension links in the
right-click context menus in Windows Explorer just disappeared after a
bit. Also I began to have problems booting my system, so I decided to
uninstall Eraser, as that was the most recent change to the system.

After the uninstall was when my REAL problems began. At boot time, the
system would hang after getting most of my desktop constructed, and I
would get a message that "Zone Alarm is trying to start VSMON" but
having problems--do I want to cancel that? When I clicked Cancel,
nothing would happen--I mean NOTHING. The system would hang solid.
The
mouse pointer would move, but I could not get any action from clicking
any icon, not even the START button. I could do the old "3 finger
salute" and bring up the Task Manager, where I would see VSMON as "Not
Responding". Also, the Microsoft Office Shortcut Bar would be listed
as
"Not Responding". Clicking End Task for either of those would then
bring up the window saying the task would not end, etc. Clicking
Shutdown would bring up a seemingly endless chain of the "Task Will Not
End" windows, and the system would hang solidly. It would not even
respond to CTL+ALT+DEL. The only recourse was the Reset button.

All of this after I installed, then uninstalled Eraser I thought about
looking at the list of
modules used by Eraser (from the ERASER.LGC) file, and comparing their
dates with the originals on the Windows install disk (5/11/98), with an
eye toward corrupted system modules. I could also run SFC, but there
might be other modules changed by other software which that would
damage. Finally got all running well by preventing Zone Alarm from
starting at Startup, AND all the Office stuff. Deleted the contents of
C:\WINDOWS\APPLOG so all that could start from scratch. Eventually
started Zone Alarm manually--it would balk every once in a while with
the VSMON hang. After a day or so, that disappeared, and I set ZA to
start at boot time again. All has been well for a few days.

I run an essentially unpatched W98FE system, which has been stable with
no glitches since I rebuilt it back in March this year. I also run AVG
Free
version and Zone Alarm Pro, Ver. 2.6.231. (Before you turn up your
nose
at the old version, it has worked with everything I do--faithfully--for
a long time!) I use either Mozilla or Netscape to surf the web, and
Netscape Messenger for mail and news group browsing. Also regularly
run
Adaware, Spybot S&D, and CWShredder. So, I feel pretty confident that
my system is bug free.

So, I suggest that you back up your system before you try Eraser.

Stranger

The problems mentioned above echo some of the difficulties I have had. First
of all, vsmon.exe is part of Zone Alarm which "Monitors internet traffic and
generates alerts for disallowed access (WinPatrol)". I do not think it is in
any way connected with Eraser. It sometimes occurs on my XP, when Zone Alarm
loads before vsmon. Clicking "continue" three times removes the dialogue but
if it is ignored it clears itself when vsmon loads. When I first encountered
this problem I Googled for "vsmon" and it came up with some details about
the problem you are having.

I have used Eraser for several years and recently updated to v5.7. No
noticeable problems in running it but an online trojan scan reported it as
malware. I can't remember which scan it was (I think PestPatrol), but there
was no confirmation from E-trust, Ewido, A-squared, Spybot, Ad-aware and
various others, so I decided to ignore the warning. I'd be interested to
know if anyone else has any further knowledge on this.

Is there anything as good as Eraser available?

===

Frank Bohan
¶ Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
 
O

Ormond Laplunk

I also recently installed Eraser and had bad results.

I have deleted it and cleaned the system registry.

That's strange, Jack. I have been using Eraser with both Win 98SE amd XP
Home Edition for years and had no problems with it . Btw, what were the "bad
results" specifically. This might help solve your problem?

Orm
 
M

me

Frank said:
The problems mentioned above echo some of the difficulties I have had. First
of all, vsmon.exe is part of Zone Alarm which "Monitors internet traffic and
generates alerts for disallowed access (WinPatrol)". I do not think it is in
any way connected with Eraser. It sometimes occurs on my XP, when Zone Alarm
loads before vsmon. Clicking "continue" three times removes the dialogue but
if it is ignored it clears itself when vsmon loads. When I first encountered
this problem I Googled for "vsmon" and it came up with some details about
the problem you are having.

I have used Eraser for several years and recently updated to v5.7. No
noticeable problems in running it but an online trojan scan reported it as
malware. I can't remember which scan it was (I think PestPatrol), but there
was no confirmation from E-trust, Ewido, A-squared, Spybot, Ad-aware and
various others, so I decided to ignore the warning. I'd be interested to
know if anyone else has any further knowledge on this.

Is there anything as good as Eraser available?

===

Frank Bohan
¶ Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

Frank,

I was looking at Heidi Software's Eraser Forum, and there was a post
about PestPatrol identifying it as malware. A Heidi rep sent E-mail to
PestPatrol asking why it was identified so, and IIFC, PestPatrol agreed
that result was erroneous and was looking into making a correction to
their program.

Seems I remember from another post that some other malware spotter had
pointed to Eraser, but that too was being investigated. In my case,
neither Spybot S&D 1.3 nor LavaSoft's Adaware Personal SE (both fully up
to date) registered a problem with Eraser.

Stranger
 
C

Christian

So, I suggest that you back up your system before you try Eraser.

I am using AxCrypt to erase files. This program is a free file encrypyion
"suite" which also includes an eraser. The way encryption and file erase
is integrated into Windows makes it very easy to use for both purposes.
The eraser in this program is also used to shred temporary files after you
have opened encrypted files directly from Windows Explorer. I have used
AxCrypt for quite a while without any problems at all. It's currently on
my top 5 freeware list (one criteria being that I use it almost every
day). Take a look at:

http://axcrypt.sourceforge.net/
 
J

J. Yazel

That's strange, Jack. I have been using Eraser with both Win 98SE amd XP
Home Edition for years and had no problems with it . Btw, what were the "bad
results" specifically. This might help solve your problem?

Orm
==============================

Eraser starts up a mysterious task in Windows before I start Eraser. It
shows in the ctrl-alt-del window.

That task interferes with another program that I have in the StartUp
folder.

I get nervous when programs are running for no apparent reason.

Jack
 
G

Gerard Morentzy

The bottom line on ERASER is this: It is maybe the single most respected
security application available. It was created by Sami Tolvanen (
http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/ ) and is now maintained by Garrett Trant at
Heidi. There is nothing sneaky IN ANY WAY with this erasing tool that -
frankly - has no peer. It is open source, always has been, and the source
code is available here: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/source.php

Gerard
 
J

J. Yazel

The bottom line on ERASER is this: It is maybe the single most respected
security application available. It was created by Sami Tolvanen (
http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/ ) and is now maintained by Garrett Trant at
Heidi. There is nothing sneaky IN ANY WAY with this erasing tool that -
frankly - has no peer. It is open source, always has been, and the source
code is available here: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/source.php

Gerard
======================

Thanks for the info.

Jack
 

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