Jess31
asked on
Making erased files unrecoverable?
What is a good/free program that will wipe out deleted files so that they are never recoverable?
Would taking a file and copying it to the hard drive enough times so that the complete drive is full, then erasing it, would that do the trick?
I am using Windows 7.
Would taking a file and copying it to the hard drive enough times so that the complete drive is full, then erasing it, would that do the trick?
I am using Windows 7.
You can overwrite the data several times to make recovery impossible.
It is time consuming with free software.
Unless you can afford to wipe the whole drive...so I suggest Evidence Eliminator
http://download.cnet.com/Evidence-Eliminator/3000-2092_4-10206328.html
CCleaner may satisfy your needs?
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download
It is time consuming with free software.
Unless you can afford to wipe the whole drive...so I suggest Evidence Eliminator
http://download.cnet.com/Evidence-Eliminator/3000-2092_4-10206328.html
CCleaner may satisfy your needs?
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download
Jess31---The CNET page on Evidence Eliminator suggests it is not suitable for Win 7 or Vista. I do not know.
These articles may be of help
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/format-hard-drive-windows-7.htm
(and DBAN is mentioned at the bottom).
http://gizmodo.com/5489933/leave-no-trace-how-to-completely-erase-your-hard-drives-ssds-and-thumb-drives
These articles may be of help
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/format-hard-drive-windows-7.htm
(and DBAN is mentioned at the bottom).
http://gizmodo.com/5489933/leave-no-trace-how-to-completely-erase-your-hard-drives-ssds-and-thumb-drives
I would go for the eraser: http://eraser.heidi.ie/download.php here you can choose how many passes it must do. A 3 pass erase is really secure.
Or the cmd like program sdelete:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx
Or the cmd like program sdelete:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx
Do you want to makes "files" unrecoverable, or do you want to clear an entire drive? Those are two very different things. Erasing a drive is generally easy, but "files" (without erasing the drive) is more difficult.
...so that the complete drive is full, then erasing it...
Yes, pretty much that would probably do it, so long as you're not trying to hide data from the NSA or similar very-high-tech organizations. There may be areas such as sectors that later became marked as bad that wouldn't be cleared, but it's not fully understood what you're needing to accomplish.
Tom
...so that the complete drive is full, then erasing it...
Yes, pretty much that would probably do it, so long as you're not trying to hide data from the NSA or similar very-high-tech organizations. There may be areas such as sectors that later became marked as bad that wouldn't be cleared, but it's not fully understood what you're needing to accomplish.
Tom
ASKER
why would a one pass not be 100% effective?
And what about second part to the question:
Would taking a file and copying it to the hard drive enough times so that the complete drive is full, then erasing it, would that do the trick?
And what about second part to the question:
Would taking a file and copying it to the hard drive enough times so that the complete drive is full, then erasing it, would that do the trick?
A one pass is good, but it's not 100% secure. Based on the guidelines a the US military Departement, a 3 way pass is the best there is. You can also do a 7 way pass, but that takes to long, and I don't see the advantage of this.
Your second part of the question. That would be ok. All the segments on the hard drive are overwritten then. So it's unreadable for data recovery programs.
Your second part of the question. That would be ok. All the segments on the hard drive are overwritten then. So it's unreadable for data recovery programs.
A proper one-pass can be 100% effective. And filling a drive with a dummy file, then deleting the file would do the trick -- unless you need to meet truly high-security/military standards. (But there are much faster methods.)
Again, though, do you only want to remove certain files? Or do you want to clear a drive? Clearing a drive can be faster and easier.
Tom
Again, though, do you only want to remove certain files? Or do you want to clear a drive? Clearing a drive can be faster and easier.
Tom
ASKER
Tom,
>>
Yes, pretty much that would probably do it, so long as you're not trying to hide data from the NSA or similar very-high-tech organizations. There may be areas such as sectors that later became marked as bad that wouldn't be cleared, but it's not fully understood what you're needing to accomplish.
But why would not one pass (or filling the drive with a tiff file and then erasing the tiff files) not be 100% even for NSA or anything?
>>
Yes, pretty much that would probably do it, so long as you're not trying to hide data from the NSA or similar very-high-tech organizations. There may be areas such as sectors that later became marked as bad that wouldn't be cleared, but it's not fully understood what you're needing to accomplish.
But why would not one pass (or filling the drive with a tiff file and then erasing the tiff files) not be 100% even for NSA or anything?
@aleinss
Already said sdelete.
@Jess31
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_erasure here you get an overview who governments delete there data (how many passes). A 1 way pass is good, there are also instances, that just write in 1 big text file:
"010101010101010101010"
But what you want to do is good. You just need to make sure, that your HD is full with dummy data. And delete it, then nobody can retrieve your data (all the segments are overwritten).
Already said sdelete.
@Jess31
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_erasure here you get an overview who governments delete there data (how many passes). A 1 way pass is good, there are also instances, that just write in 1 big text file:
"010101010101010101010"
But what you want to do is good. You just need to make sure, that your HD is full with dummy data. And delete it, then nobody can retrieve your data (all the segments are overwritten).
Oops, you did: my bad!
@Xaelian
Already said Eraser :-)
Already said Eraser :-)
2 cents more: encrypt the drive. You won't have to worry about deletions (and temporary data) even if the drive dies.
[Of course if you have multiple admin users working on that drive (that can see the files of other users by default), then encryption is not enough and eraser is needed].
[Of course if you have multiple admin users working on that drive (that can see the files of other users by default), then encryption is not enough and eraser is needed].
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For a whole hard drive we use:
DBAN ( www.dban.org )
For Partitions:
WipeDisk ( http://www.gaijin.at/dlwipedisk.php )
For Files & Data (also Partitions):
Eraser ( http://eraser.heidi.ie/download.php )