East-Tec Eraser Configuration and Final Word

excellent
key review info
application features
  • Destroy all evidence of your online activities: clean Web sites, pictures, movies, video clips, sounds, e-mail messages, chat room conversation history, AutoComplete, etc.
  • (5 more, see all...)

Setting East-Tec Eraser 2009 up

It is pretty difficult to find the configuration panel for the application, as there is no specific option in the menus to direct you to it. We accessed it from the “Erase” menu, through “Erase Options.” The general choices available here range from habitual ones for putting the app window on top of all other ones, displaying file-association icons, starting the scheduler on startup, choosing the options to be added to Windows Explorer's context menu, CPU priority for the process, or confirmations.

But there are more interesting options to capture your attention, such as restricting the access to the software and protecting all your settings with a password, enabling the shadow copy deletion on Vista, setting the data retention (some data can be protected against elimination), the file and folder exclusion from the erase job, or enabling logging to keep track of all the actions of the application.

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Under “Security Level,” you have the chance once more to set the default wipe method, but besides this, the ISAAC Random generating algorithm can be enabled or increase the size of the overwrite buffer up to 512KB. The buffer can be directly responsible for a faster data processing and better performance. No buffering/caching can intensify the procedure in some situations, as the data is written with the standard cached method, while disk buffers are flushed at the end of each pass.

To increase the functionality and flexibility of the software, the developer gives you the possibility to import and export erase options, in case you need different settings for different jobs, or as a form of back-up.

The automatic tasks present in the application let you choose the actions to be taken in case the process requires a system restart and in case this is not required. A good choice to include among all those restart and shut down alternatives would have been the possibility of running a user-defined process or command. Unfortunately, this is not possible in the current version of East-Tec Eraser 2009.

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Toolbox goodies

The Risk Monitor is one of the goodies in the tool-bag of the application. Its purpose is to monitor all wiping actions run by East-Tec Eraser 2009. It will sit in the system tray area and do all the checking in the background and pop up an alert whenever a certain amount of time has passed since you've initiated a clean session on certain parts of the system.

The Risk Monitor's field of activity includes monitoring Privacy Guard areas, erasing deleted data, the Recycle Bin, as well as notifying you in case of software updates. It can be configured to load on startup and notify you of the risk alerts.

The module brings its own layout of settings, so it can be configured independently of East-Tec Eraser 2009. These include defining the policies for risk alert. For Privacy Guard, the deleted data erasure and the Recycle Bin, there are three preset levels to choose from and a custom one. Presets go from Low through Medium and High and they bring a fixed number of days (this varies from one module to another) to check and alert you of risks.

The option for customizing the risk-alert policy puts you in charge and allows modifying the notification period from one day to 100. Also, you can enable or disable the monitoring of the modules, according to your needs.

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The Volume Shadow Copy Manager, although its name sounds very magniloquent, is nothing more than a means to explore the shadow copies in Vista and select to wipe the ones you no longer need. All the copies are arranged chronologically, giving you the time and date of their creation, as well as the volume name and exposed path. The options here let you explore, refresh, or delete them.

A second tab of the manager refers to setting up a list of files that should not be included in the shadow copies. East-Tec Eraser 2009 lets you define the files to be excluded. To make your job easier, file masks are supported.

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East-Tec Eraser 2009’s capabilities are not limited to wiping specific data on drives, but entire partitions too. For this, it has ready a special tool, called Entire Drive Wiper. Given that while using it you'll be accompanied by a wizard, putting it to good work should not be a chore at all. Each step contains full explanations on how the different settings affect the selected drive.

The most difficult part when working with the Drive Wiper will be making the settings for erasing the targeted drive. You will no longer have the possibility to go with a customized algorithm, but the standards offered are more than enough for secure erasing. Right before starting the data-wiping process, you will get another look at all the settings you've made and get back a step or two to make the necessary corrections, should you change your mind about something.

The Entire Drive Wiper is also the place where you can erase rewriteable media, as the optical drive will be in the list of choices. If you enable the “Quick Erase CD/DVD-RW” option, the application will perform a fast disc wipe (one-two minutes), but the data will still be available.

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The Scheduler is the last tool in East-Tec Eraser 2009's bag and its name perfectly describes its use. Its purpose is to program a certain data-wipe task for a time and date and as frequent as you wish. To make the process as fast as possible, there is the option to close all running applications prior to starting the job.

Other than this, all the work to be done is to define the task. This supposes picking your choice regarding the data to delete. This is the exact menu, as in the Privacy Guard module, so you won't go into unknown turf. The settings for the scheduler are actually the Erase Options of the entire application.

East-Tec Eraser 2009 lets you program as many tasks as you want, with an occurrence as frequent as you need it. More than this, any of the scheduled jobs can be run on the spot, if you so wish. So, there is plenty of flexibility involved and no restraints.

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The Good

There are plenty of secure deletion algorithms to make sure that your data is not recoverable by any means, neither via hardware solutions nor through hardware instruments. The ease of use of the application is fantastic and, given the plentiful tips present at every step in the interface, even a novice could find his/her way around with no problems.

The help file available in the application contains all the information and explanations you need to fully understand the effects of East-Tec Eraser 2009 on your drives and data on them. Also, making it context-related (you can directly access the content of an area from its application window) only adds to its value.

East-Tec Eraser 2009 supports a myriad of applications it can delete the tracks from, as well as a wide range of Windows locations. On top of this, it also features customization settings for you to add supplementary locations.

The Bad

There are little things to be mentioned in this section, but no time estimation for completing the job would be a nice addition. Also, some users may find the modular architecture quite a nag and would rather deal with only one window at a time.

The fact that the main application window shows an empty one is not quite pleasant, and some may frown upon this thing, preferring a menu of some sort instead. Also, despite the huge number of options it provides, some could discard it because of the $50 price.

The Truth

East-Tec Eraser 2009 has a great deal to offer and, even if the price seems like a drawback, for those trying to make their traces disappear without the possibility of digging them up it is worth every cent.

With an incredible ease of use, plenty of details on data-wiping algorithms, a task scheduler and seven days till Sunday to erase information, East-Tec Eraser 2009 is a complete suite of secure data-erase options. You can eliminate the info on entire drives, CD/DVD-RW, removable media, tracks from a plethora of applications, e-mails, sanitize free space off a drive, safely eliminate specific files and folders.

Its retinue of data-wiping algorithms is the most comprehensive we've seen, and, on top of it, gives you the chance to create your own data-sanitizing method without any trouble and with as many passes as you deem necessary.

Previous

user interface 4
features 5
ease of use 5
pricing / value 4


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent