Eraser is an advanced security utility, which enables 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 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 Defence and overwriting with pseudorandom data. You can also define your own overwriting methods.
Top reviews from the most popular software sites and magazines confirm that Eraser is one of the best security tools available for Windows.
Here are some key features of "Eraser":
· It works with any drive including IDE, SCSI and RAID
· Uses the Guttmann (Default), Pseudorandom Data and US DoD 5220-22.M methods
· Erases Files and Folders
· Erases all hard drives using 'Darik's Boot and Nuke' method
· Erases Index.dat on Reboot
· Erases Encrypted Files and Drives
· Erases FreeSpace on 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP and DOS
· Erases contents of the Recycle Bin
· Erases Compressed Files and Drives
· Erases Network Files, Floppy Disks, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW
· Erases Windows Temporary Files
· Erases Internet Cookies
· Erases Paging (swap) file
· Erases Internet Cache
· Appears as an 'Erase' option on the Context Menu of Windows Explorer and Recycle Bin
· Comes with an Eraser Scheduler that allows you to create user-defined tasks
· Defeats File Recovery software applications Hardware tools
· Supports FAT32 and NTFS Files Systems
· Eraser is easy to use and comes with a dedicated support network
What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]
· X64 has NOT been tested. This means that previously reported bugs in x64 may or may not have been fixed (may be fixed as a consequence of other bugs? I don't know)
· The changes which apply are in the readme file displayed in the installer
· Most importantly, support for Windows 98 has been restored
