Simply deleting your digital files does not always mean that they are completely deleted. Deleting your files does not always completely erase them from your hard drive (which explains why most file deletions can be recovered!). If you are that careful person who wants to take extra precautions with your digital files and make sure they are never gone, or you need to ensure your privacy and be certain they are completely deleted, then Eraser has got your back covered.
Eraser makes it impossible for sensitive data to be recovered again. It removes them completely from your hard drive, overwriting it again and again with selected patterns so hackers can say goodbye to your personal and confidential files. This is especially useful for those who are hiding something, or for companies with trade secrets and confidential information.
Released under the GNU General Public License, Eraser is free for everybody to use – no strings attached.
Of course, people are now becoming more and more concerned about their security, especially with rising cases in identity theft. So an extra precaution to take care of your information wouldn’t hurt, as well. After all, it is for free.
Although Eraser is now only available for Windows, we would definitely love to see versions for Mac OSX or Linux released in the near future. We think it is a very useful piece of software.
Eraser Features
- It works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.
- Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000 can still be used with version 5.7!
- It works with any drive that works with Windows
- Secure drive erasure methods are supported out of the box
- Erases files, folders and their previous deleted counterparts
- Works with an extremely customisable Scheduler
The patterns used for overwriting are based on Peter Gutmann’s paper “Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory” and they are selected to effectively remove magnetic remnants from the hard drive.
Other methods include the one defined in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual of the US Department of Defense and overwriting with pseudorandom data. You can also define your own overwriting methods.
Related Links:
Eraser’s Website
Eraser Forums
This work is licensed under a GNU General Public License.