Search results

The first point is that there are two quite different issues here. The fact that (particularly on a system drive) there are many, many system files that cannot be accessed (and so have their cluster tips erased) is just a function of the way Windows works. Of course, the fact that those files...

Yes and no, respectively. The Gutmann method has been widely misunderstood, not least because the work Peter Gutmann did in the mid-1990s is not really applicable to today's hard drives. The best information currently available is that, for all practical purposes, a single pass erase will serve...

I don't know - there are too many variables. But it will be a long time. And it's not worth doing. For all practical purposes, quick formatting the drive and doing the standard single pass free space erase gives you the same degree of security. As Peter Gutmann himself would tell you. David

Yes, routinely cutting oneself off from one's normal workflow would be regarded by most users as extreme ... :) Also, if the machine is in the care of an IT Department, running an unauthorised OS on it might be frowned upon. I think that this is one of those cases where the OP needs to to his...

Unless you really know what you are doing (or have no other option), I'd recommend against manual changes in permissions. I have done it (and still do it occasionally), but my experience confirms what Joel says, in that it is all too easy not to get what you wand and/or to produce results you...

Joel's point had not occurred to me, but it makes sense. As I understand it, the erasure will find its way to the target disk, but only (or often) via the SSD cache, with the consequent increase in wear that Joel describes. This reinforces my doubts about the caching solution as a means of...

The task probably did not complete correctly, and the erasing files were not deleted. The FAQ topic "Getting to know Eraser 6" (among others) tells you how to find and delete these files. David

I assume you are using Windows 7; which version of Eraser are you using? How did you initiate the task: context menu, drag and drop or in the schedule? Is the zero byte file visible in Explorer, or did you find it in some other way? And were you trying to erase the folders whose names were...

Where are the files located, please? And (a long shot, this) have you ever had Eraser 5 installed on your machine? Your suggestion of virus definitions presumably arises because, like me, you have done a web search on the names and come up with this possibility. I do not believe that these...

Secure move is only available in the development (6.1) builds, and is not in the stable 6.0 release. The latest 6.1 build (6.1.0.2715) appears to be working quite well, although the usual caveats about development builds apply. I have done a quick test of the secure move feature (which is most...

Yes, you can (assuming that the cached drive is a conventional 'spinner'). But you will probably not be able to remove the contents of the cache (unless the motherboard software allows it; I don't think that mine (Asus) does this). To be honest, any form of caching is a security nightmare. I...

The short answer is that no traces of the data are left by any application I am aware of (apart possibly for the paging file, but that data is likely to be partial and will be very difficult to access). File names and paths may be left in log files; using CCleaner fairly often, and an Eraser...

You are correct. Making files non-recoverable is the whole idea of the program. David

I think that there are two by now well documented approaches to the problem which Joel has described rather well. If the intention is to completely clear a drive, the best thing to do, with Eraser 6.0.x, is to format the drive and then run a free space erase. This cannot be done, obviously...

User accounts in Windows 7 either have or do not have administrative rights, according to the way they were set up (as you say). Typically, the main (or often only) user account is set up with admin rights. However (and this is the important bit, and is different from what happened in Windows...

You need to run the program as administrator (please don't think you are doing this already; you aren't). Use the link to the FAQ in my signature, and read the post 'getting to know Eraser 6'; the relevant instructions are there. It is better to do this from a user account with admin...

Just to complete the discussion, Eraser 5.x is no longer officially supported, and, as Joel said, we tend to be digging deep into the collective memory to answer questions about it ... David

Re: Images deleted from right click Erase are easily recover Joel got in ahead of me. This would be my first recommendation for a conventional (spinning) disk. For a solid state drive, the recommendation would be the same, but also to conventionally delete what you wish to erase first. Please...

Re: Images deleted from right click Erase are easily recover We always wish to investigate reports that Eraser has failed (or apparently failed) to erase files which were explicitly scheduled for erasure. There are a number of possibilities we know about, so it is best to get those out of the...

Yes; I think that's a good way of putting it. Now if we could find some kind and well-heeled person who was prepared to test a representative sample of spinning drives and SSDs to destruction ... David