Did the program work correctly?

[PaulaM74]

Hello, I am giving my computer away but do not want to destroy the OS, and ran the Eraser program with the 7 pass in which I edited and choose the random numbers (1's and 0's). After the erase was completed, the statistics read as follows. So my question is it safe to say that my unused C disk space was overwritten and it is now safe to get rid of my computer? I also clicked on view log, and it had about 20-30 protected files that the program failed to erase? Most are .cat, .manifest, and .dll files

Task Report:

Processed = 1 times
Successful = 0 times
Terminated = 0 times
Possible failure = 1 times

Statistics (average):

Erased area = 84962265 kB
Data written = 84962265 kB
Write time = 4757.05 s
Write speed = 17860 kB/s

Second question is, could someone please tell me the difference between the guttman and so forth. I know the guttman overwrites 35x, but does it do it with random 1's and 0's or not? Or am I better off editing my own series of random 1's and 0's and doing multiple erases that way.

Thanks to anyone who may be able to help!

 

[PaulaM74]

I have read a bit more, and now know the difference between all the different passes. It seems that anything over a couple passes is an overkill. From what I've read on here a pseudorandom data pass is good enough.

I still haven't found out what caused the possible failure on the task report, though the statistics said that the area was erased and data written on my HD? Must be the protected files from the view log tab? But I don't know why there would be protected files on an unused portion of my drive? Any mods know the answer?

 

[Overwriter]

PaulaM74

I still haven't found out what caused the possible failure on the task report,

Windows locks certain files whilst windows is running. This is quite normal to get these error reports, your security is probably ok.

 

[PaulaM74]

Thanks for the reply. The protected files are all in a WinSxS folder on my desktop. How can I close all current running applications on my computer to avoid this?

I was also wondering under the general preferances tab what "Enable backround (slow) entropy polling is? Doesn't just a basic pseudorandom pass overwrite with 1's and 0's randomly? Or do I need to check this box for it to happen?


Thanks again for your help.

 

[Overwriter]

Hi PaulaM74

WinSxS (Windows Side-by-Side) stores DLL’s for programs to work. I cannot understand why it is on your desktop though.

Just try shutting down as many programs as you can by right clicking the program icons in the task bar and closing them down.

Alternatively you can run windows in safe mode but this might take along time to wipe the drive as Eraser relies on windows drivers to write to the hard disk.

I was also wondering under the general preferances tab what "Enable backround (slow) entropy polling is?

Leave it unchecked, it has a habit of locking computers up ! Just use the pseudo random pass.

 

[PaulaM74]

Overwriter

Thanks for clearing all that up for me. What I meant to say was that a WinSxS folder is on my C drive under the windows folder, and all the files that are protected with possible failures are on this folder. So I'll assume that the program did its job since the task report said that it erased and wrote data over the same size area as my free space.


If you find out why the task Report said possible failure, please let me know. Thanks again for your support.

 

[Overwriter]

What I meant to say was that a WinSxS folder is on my C drive under the windows folder

Phew that’s a better place for it ! :lol:

all the files that are protected with possible failures are on this folder.

Yes that would make sense as windows has locked them.

So I'll assume that the program did its job since the task report said that it erased and wrote data over the same size area as my free space.

You assume correctly.

If you find out why the task Report said possible failure, please let me know.

I think it is because Eraser couldn’t wipe the cluster tips of those locked files, that’s all. Really this is quite normal and I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. You will occasionally get these warning / failure messages when using Eraser.

Thanks again for your support.

You are very welcome.