Selecting Data to Erase

Targets define the files and folders which require erasure. The Select Data to Erase dialog allows you to specify which files or folders require erasure, and which erasure method to apply to destroy those files.

The Erasure method applied defaults to the global default – that is, the erasure method applied will follow the default method specified in the settings dialog (see the Settings documentation for more information.) You can override the defaults by specifying a different erasure method here. Even when the global defaults change, this setting will be left unmodified; however if this is left to (default), the erasure method will change as the global defaults change.

There are currently four kinds of erasure targets:

• File targets specify that file to be erased.
• Files in Folder specifies a folder for erasure, and the include mask specifies a Wildcard expression to include files for erasure, and the exclude mask specifies another Wildcard expression to exclude files for erasure.
  • The include mask is applied before the exclude mask; a blank include mask includes all files and a blank exclude mask includes all files.
  • Combinations of the two are supported.
  • Unused disk space specifies that all unallocated disk space on the selected volume will be overwritten with random data to eliminate the traces of files which were insecurely deleted.
    • Checking the Erase cluster tips checkbox will erase the Cluster Tips of files on the specified drive. Symbolic links, hard links and Junctions will not be followed.
    • Starting from Eraser 6.1, mounted network drives (with a drive letter) are also displayed in the drop-down list, allowing the unused space erasure of network drives.

• Recycle bin specifies that all files in the current user’s recycle bin is erased.