How to REALLY erase files and folders in Windows
August 13th, 2007 by Ross McKillop |
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This tutorial will guide you in using the open source (free) utility Eraser. Eraser is an advanced tool which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.
Eraser is available for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP (32/64),Vista (32/64), Windows Server 2003 and DOS. It works with any drive including IDE, SCSI and RAID, and CD-RW’s.
Eraser uses the Guttmann (Default), Pseudorandom Data and US DoD 5220-22.M methods to securely delete data. If none of that makes sense to you, don’t worry about it. In a nutshell, the Guttmann method is the most secure, and is the default. It takes a little longer than the US DoD method, which is faster but less secure.
- Before you go to far, make sure you’ve downloaded and installed Eraser. Once installed, right-click on a file or folder (or several) that you want to securely erase (maybe start with a test file or two - remember - deleting files this way makes sure that they are totally unrecoverable). Select Erase from the menu.
- A confirmation window will appear. Click the Options… button.
- From here you can decide how the files will be erased. The default (Guttmann) is the most secure, but it also takes the longest to ‘erase’ the files. Click OK after you’ve made your choice.
- A status window will appear showing you which items are being erased, and the percentage of the overall progress.
- Once completed, you’ll be presented with an Erasing Report.
- Another of the Eraser features is the ability to securely delete files in the Recycle Bin. Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop, and choose Erase Recycle Bin.
- Instead of a “Are you sure you want to empty the Recycle Bin” message, you’ll get a Are you sure you want to erase the contents of the Recycle Bin message. Click Yes.
- And again, you’ll get a report of the erased files.
- Eraser has a lot of other features as well - be sure to check out the Eraser FAQs page.
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