Tech tips -
In the last couple of columns we talked about deleted files and how they remain on your computer even after being emptied from the recycle bin. I showed you a couple of pretty cool pieces of free software from Piriform that both allow you to recover deleted files and to securely overwrite old deleted files.
Probably my last in word on this topic is to introduce you to one more free piece of software to help you securely delete files from your computer.
You know, this problem begins because of the way Windows "deletes" files. The files are not removed from your computer. Windows just marks the space occupied by the former file as reusable. To make matters even worst, the name of the file remains in the master file table, making it so easily recoverable. Where is the privacy?
Now, if you want to take the time to research this topic online, you will soon see that there is much debate about recovering deleted files and what types of equipment the government has to do such (via reading the magnetic fields on the disk platter etc).
But, from our simple point of view, we just want to make the file unavailable to Windows. The best or simplest way to do that is to overwrite the area on the hard drive that the file was stored.
Browse on over to www.heidi.ie/node/6 where you can find a free piece of software called Eraser. Click the download button to get version 5.86a for Windows. The file EraserSetup32.exe (for i386) is about 8.5 MB. Once downloaded, double click to start the straightforward install.
I am not being over dramatic here, but, this software has the potential to be very dangerous to your data. Before you use it, take the time to read the help file and check out the "how to's" on the forum. Please! You might want to consider backing up your important stuff as well.
Two reasons why I really like this software; one, you can drag and drop a file you want deleted right onto its interface or you can right click a file and choose the erase option from the shortcut menu. Wonderfully simple!
My second reason for using this software is its ability to erase unused space on the hard drive. While overwriting free disk space, you can select to have the software overwrite Master File Table Records thus removing the names of deleted files from that list. Welcome back privacy!
Prove it to yourself. Run Recuva first and take note of how many deleted files it found, then run Eraser on your unused disk space. Once finished, run Recuva again and note how many deleted files it finds this time. Excellent, I love this software.
toddmusseau@gmail.com
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