Eraser Capabilities

[Anonymous]

Eraser seems quite good (well as good as any of the others at least, I really don't know how to coose between them), but I have heard that in previous versions it has had trouble removing filenames, or only managinf it on NTFS, etc.

Anyway, I'd just like to make sure that it can do everything, such as;

• Destroys files
• Destroys directories
• Filenames destroyed
• Destroys free space
• When destroying free space, old filenames are overwritten
• Destroys slack space when destroying free space
• Wipe Windows swapfile option

So, can it definitely do all of these things, particularly in Win9x (FAT32)?

 

[garrett01]

Yes to all except

>>When destroying free space, old filenames are overwritten
It cannot traverse the NTFS Filetable seeking out empty slots and clearing them. This may have to be done before the machine boots up.

The best solution is to always erase the individual files.


Garrett

 

[SammeyDW]

Yes to all except

>>When destroying free space, old filenames are overwritten
It cannot traverse the NTFS Filetable seeking out empty slots and clearing them. This may have to be done before the machine boots up.

The best solution is to always erase the individual files.


Garrett

It sounds to me like he is talking about the ' clear directory entries ' option in the eraser preferences, also so far I have only had problems erasing the drive / partition where the OS is installed, regardless of whether it is FAT or NTFS. I have tested Eraser using the undelete utilities available to me, and as far as destroying the actual data as well as ' clearing unused directory entries ' it puts many commercial-ware, to shame.


P.S.
To get best results empty the recycle bin, and the temp directory, as well as shutting down any progams that don't have to be running.

 

[Anonymous]

OK, well, why can't it do that, is it impossible and therefore no data destroyers do it, or as you said, does it just have to be done before the machine boots up (when you say that, do you mean when the computer is turned off, or just before the OS loads?). Will Eraser be able to do it in the future?

Also, you said the NTFS Filetable, I asked specifically about Win9x (FAT32), so is that definitely relevant?

 

[Anonymous]

Actually, Eraser does attempt to clear old filenames from NTFS drives, and it seems to be quite successful at it. Empty slots from MFT are also erased.

 

[Anonymous]

OK, well, why can't it do that

I believe Microsoft feels the NTFS format is their trade secret, and thus hasn't released accurate information about it to the public. Any software tinkering directly with NTFS structures risks corrupting data. If not now, then possibly in the future when Microsoft changes it and doesn't bother telling anyone.

is it impossible and therefore no data destroyers do it

It may not be impossible, but I am not sure if editing NTFS internals while the OS is running is safe. At least it's very risky and difficult to do without any documentation. May require even a kernel module.

Will Eraser be able to do it in the future?

Considering that implementing this is not only frustrating, because there is no documentation, but it's also absolutely boring, I find it hard to believe that Eraser would be able to modify NTFS directly anytime in the near future. In the mean while, people will just have to settle with the current functionality, which seems to work just fine for me.

Of course, if people are really serious about their security, they would use encryption. If you store everything on an encrypted virtual drive, you don't have to worry about erasing stuff.

I asked specifically about Win9x (FAT32), so is that definitely relevant?

I suppose it's not. Eraser can clear filenames from FAT32, because its format is known. FAT is also a lot simpler file system than NTFS, so modifying it is easier.