Does Eraser always erase files in the same order?

[curiuosgy]

Scenario:

Part 1 - All options for File erase are selected, and all options for erasing Unused Disk Space are also selected. A 7-pass wipe is chosen to be scheduled at 1:00AM on Monday. The wipe begins at the appointed time and continues through the night. When I arrive in the morning, the wipe is still running and the computer feels sluggish. According to the progress bar, the wipe is about 50% completed but I need to get on with my work so I terminate the wipe.

Part 2 - The next scheduled wipe is on Tuesday at 1:00AM. Again when I walk into the office on Tuesday morning the wipe is still running, about 50% complete. I terminate the wipe again and get on with my work.

My questions :

a) Does the erase that happens on Tuesday morning in my scenario above overwrite the same files that the Monday erase did - in the same order (ie. does Eraser always use the same starting point and proceeds say alphabetically by directory in the same order each time)?

b) Does Eraser have some pseduo-random order it erases files and freespace in - ie. it never starts erasing files/folders in anything but random order?

c) Does the termination point of an erase session (ie. we're at a particular file name when the session is terminated) become the starting point for the next time Eraser runs?

d) When erasing both files and free space, is there a particular order in which the erasing is done, ie. files first, then cluster tips, and then freespace, or is it randomly done based on what the program encounters as it moves along?

Thanks for any answers to these questions.

 

[Joel]

a) Does the erase that happens on Tuesday morning in my scenario above overwrite the same files that the Monday erase did - in the same order (ie. does Eraser always use the same starting point and proceeds say alphabetically by directory in the same order each time)?

You aren't erasing any files by the time you have spent 7 hours. If you are however referring to the cluster tips, yes they are in the same order. If you are referring to the unused disk space, that is up to the file system driver.

b) Does Eraser have some pseduo-random order it erases files and freespace in - ie. it never starts erasing files/folders in anything but random order?

I don't understand your question, could you rephrase that?

c) Does the termination point of an erase session (ie. we're at a particular file name when the session is terminated) become the starting point for the next time Eraser runs?

No, it should not. Unused space may get used again, it may not. By storing the state after a cancellation a new inconsistent state will be restored at the next execution.

d) When erasing both files and free space, is there a particular order in which the erasing is done, ie. files first, then cluster tips, and then freespace, or is it randomly done based on what the program encounters as it moves along?

Cluster tips then free space when an unused space erasure is executed. Why will files be erased in an unused space task?

 

[curiuosgy]

a) Does the erase that happens on Tuesday morning in my scenario above overwrite the same files that the Monday erase did - in the same order (ie. does Eraser always use the same starting point and proceeds say alphabetically by directory in the same order each time)?

You aren't erasing any files by the time you have spent 7 hours. If you are however referring to the cluster tips, yes they are in the same order. If you are referring to the unused disk space, that is up to the file system driver.

b) Does Eraser have some pseduo-random order it erases files and freespace in - ie. it never starts erasing files/folders in anything but random order?

I don't understand your question, could you rephrase that?

Ok...say you have the following folders on the system:
[A]

[Cocaine Orders]
[Girls Gone Wild]
[My Documents]
[Programs]
[Super Secret Stuff]
[Windows]

When Eraser runs does it -
Start in folder [A], then , etc... proceeding alphabetically?
Or does it start its run at [Cocaine Orders] one time and the next time Eraser runs it might randomly choose a different folder to begin in, eg. start in [Super Secret Stuff] ?

Further to this, when in a given folder does Eraser proceed alphabetically, or perhaps in order based on the create date, last accessed, or last modified date of the files, or in some random order?

 

[Joel]

When Eraser runs does it -
Start in folder [A], then , etc... proceeding alphabetically?
Or does it start its run at [Cocaine Orders] one time and the next time Eraser runs it might randomly choose a different folder to begin in, eg. start in [Super Secret Stuff] ?

If you specify it in a particular order in the task list, it will follow that order.

Further to this, when in a given folder does Eraser proceed alphabetically, or perhaps in order based on the create date, last accessed, or last modified date of the files, or in some random order?

It depends on what order the file system returns the files. From observation, NTFS does seem like it is listed alphabetically. But other file system drivers may not.