Eraser
Category: Security
Short Description: A few minor complaints aside, this free file shredder is by and large a solid find. Erasers all-business interface wont win any design awards, but its mostly convenient to use, allowing you to add files or folders to be deleted via drag-and-drop transfers. However, since the program lacks a dedicate deletion button or icon, youl have to dig through the menu items to actually erase data. This misstep is somewhat negated by the fact that Eraser integrates into the Windows context menu, letting you shred files via a right click. Were glad to see the program lets you choose from four secure government-sanctioned deletion algorithms, and we appreciate the inclusion of a scheduler, handy for routinely wiping free disk space. In our tests, Eraser got rid of a 1GB file in 10 minutes--impressive, considering we employed the most secure deletion method. Anyone seeking to eradicate documents for good should take a long look at this freebie.
Details: Eraser is an advanced security tool for Windows that allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. The patterns used for overwriting are based on Peter Guttmanns paper Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory and 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 U.S. Department of Defense, and overwriting with pseudorandom data. You can also define your own overwriting methods.