A few eraser questions

[Hypochondriac]

The only other eraserish program I used is file shredder from fileshredder.org. When I compare the two eraser programs to erase the unused portion of a disk eraser seems rather slow why is that?

Whats the difference between using the psuedorandom data and the 3, 7, 35 passes? Would psuedorandom data be the best because it overwrites your hard drive or do the passes also overwrite the data?

I was also told ccleaner was a good program to keep people from recovering information off your computer, if I use eraser to erase the unused portion of a hard drive do I still need CCleaner?

Thanks

 

[jackjack]

The only other eraserish program I used is file shredder from fileshredder.org. When I compare the two eraser programs to erase the unused portion of a disk eraser seems rather slow why is that?

What type of pass does fileshredder use for wiping free space? It may not be the same method eraser is using.

Whats the difference between using the psuedorandom data and the 3, 7, 35 passes? Would psuedorandom data be the best because it overwrites your hard drive or do the passes also overwrite the data?

The pseudorandom data is just what it says (pseudo) random data generated by your computer when erasing. The other 3,7 and 35 pass wipes use pre defined patterns when wiping.

Assuming you're hard drive is relatevely modern post 2000 pseudorandom method should be enough for most scenarios.

Have a read here - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5247

All 4 methods can be used for either wiping files or for wiping free space.

I was also told ccleaner was a good program to keep people from recovering information off your computer, if I use eraser to erase the unused portion of a hard drive do I still need CCleaner?

Yes. If you don't delete the information from the hard drive in the first place it won't be in the hard drives free space for eraser to wipe. You need to run Ccleaner first and then a free space wipe with eraser.