latest version way too slow

anon125

New Member
eraser default settings on a 2 quad computer with 8 gb mem.
erasing via USB 2.0 a file on a hard drive - about 500gb.
new seagate hard drive
8 hours later it shows an 1/8th of an inch green.
can i speed it up.?
thanks
PS when i select help about the 'about' does not switch off with esc. can i turn it off once i have checked the version.
downloaded yesterday.
is it free cos it is beta - in testing and we are doing the testing?
 
To answer your last point first, Eraser is open source, that is it always was and always will be free. The 'stable' version 6.0.7 is the current release. The nightly builds are development versions of a further 6.0 service release (which may or may not see the light of day), and builds (not yet feature complete, hence the 6.1 designation) of the next planned full release (6.2). Stability of nightly builds is not guaranteed, but the most recent (at the time of writing) are running as well as 6.0.7 on my machines. But, when a tiny, minimally resourced team develops a program for open source release, it is inevitable that users will identify issues that the development team are unaware of.

As with a lot of programs these days, Help|About is closed just by clicking on it.

The speed of a free space erase is a primarily a function of 4 things:
  • drive technology, which is a significant limiting factor;
  • the amount of free space to be erased;
  • the erasing method (particularly the number of passes) chosen;
  • what else is running concurrently on the computer (erasing needs as much hard drive bandwidth as it can get).
It is not, typically, a function of the speed of the Eraser program itself. Based on the performance of my quad core Vista machine, I would expect your erase to complete in 4-6 hours, if you are using the default single pass erase method (which, in my opinion, is perfectly satisfactory for erasing free space), and are not trying to do anything else concurrently (switching off your antivirus usually helps as well). If you are already doing these things, I'd check that your USB connection has not reverted to USB 1.1, which for some reason can happen on occasions.

David
 
What erasing method are you using? Is the computer a desktop or a laptop, and is the drive separately powered, or powered from the USB?

David
 
DavidHB said:
What erasing method are you using? Is the computer a desktop or a laptop, and is the drive separately powered, or powered from the USB?

David
thanks
the computer is a desktop
drive is powered.
erasing method is what ever is the default.
external drive has 35GB free, desktop 100gb free
 
anon125 said:
the default is set at gutmann 35 passes
If the default free space erasure method is indeed set to Gutmann, that's your problem. Change it to the normal default (which is Pseudorandom data, 1 pass)

David
 
DavidHB said:
anon125 said:
the default is set at gutmann 35 passes
If the default free space erasure method is indeed set to Gutmann, that's your problem. Change it to the normal default (which is Pseudorandom data, 1 pass)

David
the default erasure method was gutmann 35 - i changed to HMG 1 pass and it was quicker of course.
the unused space was set to Pseudorandom data, 1 pass
when it says "completed with errors" how do i find what the errors were.

PS decades ago, for a while i lived in Havant! not that far from you. now like you i am on an island - except it is off the west coast of canada
 
anon125 said:
when it says "completed with errors" how do i find what the errors were.
In the FAQ (link below), there is a topic on 'Getting to know Eraser 6', where you will find information about reading the Task Log.

For file erasing I would tend to use a 3 pass method (e.g. HMG IS5 enhanced), but, as I said, single pass is, on current evidence, quite adequate for free space erasing.

anon125 said:
PS decades ago, for a while i lived in Havant! not that far from you. now like you i am on an island - except it is off the west coast of canada
I pass through Havant every time I go up to London, though, these days, there's not a lot there to tempt me to stop ... Island life, I find, needs a certain mindset (life ruled by ferries etc.), but it suits me well enough.

David
 
anon125 said:
eraser is a work in progress.
It always was, and always will be. That does not stop it being the most useful program I know for doing what it does.

David
 
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