User-defined prefix for file name obscuration

[maddes]

• Request:
  Provide an option to set a string, which is used as a prefix when obscuring file names (e.g. on erasing unused space). Default should be empty, so there's no change to Eraser's current behaviour.

• Reason:
  If files got deleted by accident (not erased), then it is hard to find the real files inside the list with all these random file names. A constant prefix will help tremendously as all obscured file names are en-block. Finding the real files will be much easier, independent of the tool you (have to) use.

• Topic "plausible deniability":
  When this new option is empty, which should be the default setting, then there is no difference to Eraser's current behaviour. If the user decides to use a constant prefix for file name obscuration, then it is the user's choice.
  Also most users do not need plausible deniability, they just need to be sure that no one else can...
  a) recover erased files with private or company data
  b) drew conclusions from the real file names
  Even with a constant prefix these points are still reached.

• Example without a prefix, just like current Eraser:

  .LMrRJGXMdZwX-mV
  5pzEK_PgQoN5.qBU
  6dollar_bill.txt
  D3wbfhskDWVkDE5c
  hoYY3soXeDGgSP5M
  iamarealfile.xls
  iePwP_WnLPF9AsLm
  jU93Fo3Xm4W-N2dD
  makefile_old.bak
  MAmVp2xJ9ue4kDFD
  wgaLNzsCNmJ5BZ6Y
  ypsilon-letter
  zLpX3ymW8E_rjhMF
  

• Example with a user-defined prefix of "zY6b":

  6dollar_bill.txt
  iamarealfile.xls
  makefile_old.bak
  ypsilon-letter
  zY6b.LMrRJGXMdZw
  zY6b5pzEK_PgQoN5
  zY6bD3wbfhskDWVk
  zY6bhoYY3soXeDGg
  zY6biePwP_WnLPF9
  zY6bjU93Fo3Xm4W-
  zY6bMAmVp2xJ9ue4
  zY6bwgaLNzsCNmJ5
  zY6bzLpX3ymW8E_r
  

  You see the prefix makes it much easier to find deleted files after the last erase of unused space.

• Situation where this option would have been useful for me:
  
  • Erased unused space with Eraser, so all unused file entries got obscured file names (I do this twice a year).
  • Worked with the system for a longer time.
  • Accidentally deleted some files (not erased).
    There were 12.000 deleted files on my hard disk (which is for working/downloads/temp) and I knew that around 1000 files got deleted by accident.
    I didn't know all the names of the 1000 files, so I had to check each and every entry of the list if it could be a file that I accidentally deleted.

[maddes]

Forum thread is ​http://bbs.heidi.ie/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7549