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'Sparse' is a file attribute that programs can set. When it is set, the NTFS file system only allocates space for non-zero data, thereby (in effect) stripping out the zeroes from the stored data and restoring them only when the file is read. As many files have large blocks of zeroes, this...

Quote from the Eraser manual: David

Apologies for misremembering. ... and the really annoying thing is that it is still there in the .NET 4 the latest beta builds run on. David

You can get details of the command line interface by entering 'eraser help' in a run box. The CLI is both rather complex and subject to change. David

You can, but it's not obvious. Start with a blank new text file open in Notepad or whatever, and open the eraser schedule. Right-click on the task to view the log in the usual way. Click on the first entry in the task, then press Ctrl+Shift+End to select the whole log text. Right click on your...

I was headed for the same point, but Joel got there first ... :) David

Taking your second point first, I think that Joel's response in the thread to which you linked is currently the best information on the subject. I have tested free space erasing on probably a couple of dozen different drives over the years, and my experience is that it is quite hard to work out...

Anything that bypasses Windows protection systems can potentially be misused. We all hate UAC, but it was introduced precisely because most XP installations effectively had no security at all because they ran in Administrator mode. I probably wouldn't use Joel's adjectives in this case, but I...

That's an opinion of Joel I don't really share, for much the reasons you mentioned, so I didn't actually refer to the .msi file. The Windows Installer uses .msi files as the source for an installation. The Eraser installation file (which is a normal .exe file) basically contains two .msi files...

I understand. Unless Joel thinks otherwise, my advice would be to use only one of the syncserver machines while you do a free space erase on the other. Expect the erase to run for a long time (typically many hours, but it will depend on the speed of the drive and the amount of free space to be...

Some questions. Did the problem just relate to the Recycle Bin? Have you tried deleting something explicitly to the Recycle Bin. Was that removed when Eraser was run. When you look at the contents of the Recycle Bin, does the file giving the error message appear there? If it does, have you...

In considering the answer to this question, you need to understand how erasing free space works. I think you will find that there is good news and bad news. A free space erase is in fact, three separate operations carried out sequentially. Firstly (and optionally), cluster tips (the unused...

I defer to Joel on this, and withdraw my request. David

Re: Conflict between Eraser 6 and Windows 7 administrator ac Something on your computer has, I guess, restored the files from copies elsewhere in the system. Did you by any chance do a system restore in the intervening period, or do you run software that can saves snapshots of your system in...

I'm glad the suggestion about 5.8.8 portable was of use. This sounds interesting, and (as you describe it) is new to me. Please could you explain the procedure you are using to run 'from the service context'? David

Re: Conflict between Eraser 6 and Windows 7 administrator ac Eraser has to be run 'as Administrator' when, for example, you are erasing the free space on a drive. This is discussed extensively in the FAQ, so I shall not go into detail here. Was this perhaps the reference you recall? Please...

I thought that might be an issue. %USERPROFILE% is an environment variable, signifying a known but variable name Windows location, that points to your User folder. It is typically C:\Documents and Settings\{your user name}\ in XP. For reasons I will not trouble you with, Eraser 6 does not...

I have answered this in the topic that you posted David

It's not just UAC. It is essentially that Win 7 and Vista, unlike XP, do not allow programs to run with administrative permissions (even from an account that has administrator status) unless they are explicitly elevated (aka "run as Administrator"). For functions that require administrative...

I think that you may have had a damaged 6.0.8 installation, and this could also have explained the slowness. Did you by any chance try to install Eraser 6 without uninstalling Eraser 5? From my and other testing, 6.0.8 was not inherently slower than previous versions. But the upgrade to 6.0.9...