I wanted to overwrite unused diskspace resp. wipe out definetely lots of sensitive files with Eraser 5.82 only to see that the TuneUp Undelete function of TuneUp Utilities 2007 could restore each and every single one of the > 20.000 files I wanted to delete, even badly damaged files! So what is Eraser good for, anyway??? :?:
Eraser loses against TuneUp Utilities 2007: Why?
- Thread starter Alexander
- Start date
Overwriter
Active Member
Hi Alexander.
I think you are mistaken. I suggest you try again.
You wouldn’t happen have a vested interest in TuneUp Utilities 2007 would you ?
I think you are mistaken. I suggest you try again.
You wouldn’t happen have a vested interest in TuneUp Utilities 2007 would you ?
Eraser/TuneUp Utilities
Hello Carver, hello Overwriter!
thanks for your reply - I will try once more...and check again very diligently. I thought I got it all right but...obviously not. I will let you know what happened. I will activate Eraser now on my other drive F: and see what TuneUp Utilities comes up with again...
Best regards, Alexander.
Hello Carver, hello Overwriter!
thanks for your reply - I will try once more...and check again very diligently. I thought I got it all right but...obviously not. I will let you know what happened. I will activate Eraser now on my other drive F: and see what TuneUp Utilities comes up with again...
Best regards, Alexander.
I'm not sure what has gone wrong, but I downloaded the trial version of Tune Up and then did a freespace wipe with Eraser - it found nothing (except 0 byte files, which I expected). I also ran 3 other undelete programs: Recuva, Restoration and Recover4All and each produced the same result - no file bigger than 0 bytes.
I can only suggest the OP reinstalls Eraser - it certainly works for me.
I can only suggest the OP reinstalls Eraser - it certainly works for me.
Eraser/TuneUp Utilities
Hi Robbie,
thanks for your reply. Hm, may be I goofed it up..don't know. I am right now running Eraser on F: and will try later to restore data with TuneUp Utilities...will see what happenst this time...
I will post the results asap.
Best regards, Alexander.
Hi Robbie,
thanks for your reply. Hm, may be I goofed it up..don't know. I am right now running Eraser on F: and will try later to restore data with TuneUp Utilities...will see what happenst this time...
I will post the results asap.
Best regards, Alexander.
I'd forgotten about TuneUp Utilities - I downloaded a trial version about 2 years ago and it's since long been removed from my computer following a clean WXP reinstall - it's a great program. The free trial version is fully functional too, for 30 days.
Recuva is the quickest file recovery program of them all that I tried though - TU took a little while to check the hard drive (about 10 mins as I have loads of zero byte sized files residing in freespace), Recuva did it in less than 10 seconds!
Recuva is the quickest file recovery program of them all that I tried though - TU took a little while to check the hard drive (about 10 mins as I have loads of zero byte sized files residing in freespace), Recuva did it in less than 10 seconds!
TuneUp Utilities - Eraser
Hi Robbie,
Eraser ist still working on my files...yes, TU is great. A few days ago I made a mistake and erased all .avi files. Result: The 1-Click-Maintenance of TU does not work anymore...don't know why...?
I will check on "Recuva", thanks!
Best regards, Alexander.
Hi Robbie,
Eraser ist still working on my files...yes, TU is great. A few days ago I made a mistake and erased all .avi files. Result: The 1-Click-Maintenance of TU does not work anymore...don't know why...?
I will check on "Recuva", thanks!
Best regards, Alexander.
Hi, I've come across some articles addressing similar problems with erasing tools (in german language, though)...
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_Data_Streams
http://www.heise.de/security/artikel/52139
http://www.pc-magazin.de/praxis/cm/page ... pg&id=5843
and this one (in english): http://www.infosecwriters.com/texts.php ... play&id=53
Check this out, too: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/faq.php
- I erased file 'x' and found that I could recover it! I thought the
whole objective of this program was to erase it so that it cannot be
recovered.
- I heard that Windows' swap (or paging) file may contain sensitive
information. Why doesn't Eraser take care of this?
Alexander
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_Data_Streams
http://www.heise.de/security/artikel/52139
http://www.pc-magazin.de/praxis/cm/page ... pg&id=5843
and this one (in english): http://www.infosecwriters.com/texts.php ... play&id=53
Check this out, too: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/faq.php
- I erased file 'x' and found that I could recover it! I thought the
whole objective of this program was to erase it so that it cannot be
recovered.
- I heard that Windows' swap (or paging) file may contain sensitive
information. Why doesn't Eraser take care of this?
Alexander
The paging file can be deleted at computer close down - it is a registry setting, but that setting can be controlled via Eraser.
The swap file itself can't be deleted by Eraser simply because it is a Windows file that is locked, and therefore can't be touched. BCWipe allows the user to wipe the swap file on computer startup, before Windows loads properly but that's not an adequate solution as the computer has to close down first for this to occur and therefore sensitive information may then end up on the hard drive, in freespace.
Far better to let Windows wipe the swap file at close down (I think it just blanks the file - ie writes zeros to the file) though there again will be parts of it that can't be fully wiped due to the way Windows works. This is from the Eraser help file:
"Windows NT (and 2000) has a security feature that will overwrite the paging file at shutdown. The overwriting is done by the operating system after all applications are closed so most data will be overwritten. There are small areas that cannot be accessed because they are allocated by the operating system components that are still active. You may enable this feature from the General Preferences window of Eraser."
This applies to XP and presumably Vista too.
However, if any one is worried about what may lie in the swap file and could end up on disk then the only way to ensure total 100% security is to never use a computer!
The swap file itself can't be deleted by Eraser simply because it is a Windows file that is locked, and therefore can't be touched. BCWipe allows the user to wipe the swap file on computer startup, before Windows loads properly but that's not an adequate solution as the computer has to close down first for this to occur and therefore sensitive information may then end up on the hard drive, in freespace.
Far better to let Windows wipe the swap file at close down (I think it just blanks the file - ie writes zeros to the file) though there again will be parts of it that can't be fully wiped due to the way Windows works. This is from the Eraser help file:
"Windows NT (and 2000) has a security feature that will overwrite the paging file at shutdown. The overwriting is done by the operating system after all applications are closed so most data will be overwritten. There are small areas that cannot be accessed because they are allocated by the operating system components that are still active. You may enable this feature from the General Preferences window of Eraser."
This applies to XP and presumably Vista too.
However, if any one is worried about what may lie in the swap file and could end up on disk then the only way to ensure total 100% security is to never use a computer!
Eraser 5.82/TuneUp Utilities 2007
Uh...this is way beyond my computer literacy. Eraser took more than 6 hours to complete its work. I think you are right and I made a mistake in the first place...at least something happened during the night: I am now stuck with thousands of 0-Byte files (What is this? :?: ) and even more "protected" files...what should I do about these files? And there are many other files, .exe files for example, files with strange endings, .dll files and many more which Eraser did not kill...what should I do now...I wanted the unused space on my drives nice, neat and clean but it's not...I am pretty much disappointed.
Uh...this is way beyond my computer literacy. Eraser took more than 6 hours to complete its work. I think you are right and I made a mistake in the first place...at least something happened during the night: I am now stuck with thousands of 0-Byte files (What is this? :?: ) and even more "protected" files...what should I do about these files? And there are many other files, .exe files for example, files with strange endings, .dll files and many more which Eraser did not kill...what should I do now...I wanted the unused space on my drives nice, neat and clean but it's not...I am pretty much disappointed.
raser 5.82/TuneUp Utilities
Ok, will try - I need to learn more about that. Someone told me it also helps a lot to defragmentate the drives after using Eraser (when you still find files you do not want) as data will be rewritten/overwritten which Eraser did not kill completely (I hope I did get the guy right) under the condition that the drives were very much defragmentated before doing so...this will not work, however, if the drives are not chaotically defragmentated.
Ok, will try - I need to learn more about that. Someone told me it also helps a lot to defragmentate the drives after using Eraser (when you still find files you do not want) as data will be rewritten/overwritten which Eraser did not kill completely (I hope I did get the guy right) under the condition that the drives were very much defragmentated before doing so...this will not work, however, if the drives are not chaotically defragmentated.
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Eraser and TuneUp Utilities serve different purposes and have different functionalities. It seems there might be some confusion about what Eraser is designed for and how to use it effectively.
Eraser is a secure file erasure tool designed to permanently delete files from your storage devices by overwriting their data with random data patterns, making it extremely difficult to recover them using standard file recovery tools. It's primarily used to ensure that sensitive or confidential data cannot be easily retrieved after deletion. Here are a few key points about Eraser:
Secure Deletion: Eraser overwrites the content of the files multiple times with random data patterns, which makes it very challenging for data recovery software to retrieve the original data.
Scheduled Tasks: Eraser allows you to schedule file erasure tasks, which can be useful for regular data wiping to ensure no sensitive data is left behind.
Context Menu Integration: You can right-click on files or folders in Windows Explorer to securely erase them using Eraser.
Customizable Settings: Eraser provides various overwriting methods and patterns, giving you control over how thoroughly you want to erase data.
Open Source: Eraser is an open-source project, and its code is available for scrutiny and modification by the community.
Eraser is a secure file erasure tool designed to permanently delete files from your storage devices by overwriting their data with random data patterns, making it extremely difficult to recover them using standard file recovery tools. It's primarily used to ensure that sensitive or confidential data cannot be easily retrieved after deletion. Here are a few key points about Eraser:
Secure Deletion: Eraser overwrites the content of the files multiple times with random data patterns, which makes it very challenging for data recovery software to retrieve the original data.
Scheduled Tasks: Eraser allows you to schedule file erasure tasks, which can be useful for regular data wiping to ensure no sensitive data is left behind.
Context Menu Integration: You can right-click on files or folders in Windows Explorer to securely erase them using Eraser.
Customizable Settings: Eraser provides various overwriting methods and patterns, giving you control over how thoroughly you want to erase data.
Open Source: Eraser is an open-source project, and its code is available for scrutiny and modification by the community.