PrivaZer Removes Private Details and Improves Performance

excellent
key review info
application features
  • Scans for traces of PC activity in the deepest corners of the system
  • (7 more, see all...)

By using your computer bits and traces of your activity remain available in certain areas of the OS. Windows also fails to excel at removing left-over files resulting from operations such as software installs and uninstalls, applying updates or simply eliminating purging cache folders when no longer needed.

PrivaZer is a nifty utility that can eliminate unnecessary data on the system easily and efficiently. Unlike most cleaning utilities, which stress the fact that they contribute to boosting the system’s overall performance, this tool focuses on protecting your privacy at the same time achieving some performance improvements.

The application is free of charge and also has a portable version for those that want to avoid the installation process.

Looks are simple and the developer conceived it for both the beginner user as well as for the more experienced one. From the start, you get to customize it for your own needs by going through some configuration steps, according to your level of experience.

Seasoned users have more control over the cleaning process while beginners get only a glimpse of all the cleaning abilities available in the application. At the end of the customization process, you can save the settings file locally for later use.

For total control over the areas that are scanned and cleaned, head to the main menu. It makes available multiple operations, from in-depth scanning of the entire system to targeting a specific type of information: Internet traces, remnants of old files or details left behind as a result of using various programs.

Furthermore, PrivaZer can detect invalid files and errors in Windows Registry, securely delete files and folders or schedule automatic cleaning procedures (not available in the portable version).

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The application is capable of cleaning external devices with data storage abilities (SD cards, NAS, MP3 players, USB keys, external drive, etc.). Regardless of the device type, it’ll look for any sort of traces in MFT (Master File Table), USN Journal, free space as well as the Recycle Bin.

When it comes to checking the system drive, PrivaZer is quite impressive as it goes through every nook and cranny in search for invalid, obsolete or unnecessary data as well as traces left behind from simply using the computer.

It may look like a regular cleaning utility but it also integrates privacy upholding features by providing multiple sanitizing algorithms to choose from, depending on the type of media storage (flash, magnetic disk, RAM).

These include multi-pass standards used by official military organizations and ensure secure cleaning with little to no chance to recover the files. Among them are algorithms used by US Navy, NSA, US Department of Defense or the Russian GOST.

PrivaZer can look into the deep corners of the system and eliminate useless items abandoned from operations such as OS updates, software installation or web browsing (supports Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Safari).

The data that can be removed in the case of browser is extensive enough to comprise typed info, HTML5 caches (if available), search history, old version files or search history, apart from the list of visited sites, cache, saved passwords or download history.

As far as cookies are concerned, the developer created a separate section for them, where you can add the ones you want to keep. The scan process searches for cookies in all the browsers and lists them. Unfortunately, there is no possibility to pick the entries you want to keep from the scan results panel.

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The application can also clean traces from third-party programs and the list is generous enough to cover popular applications from a diverse set of categories: instant messengers (Yahoo, Skype, Trillian, AIM, Pidgin, Xfire), disc burning (BurnAware, Ashampoo Burning Studio, CDBurnerXP, CloneCD, Nero, ImgBurn), media players and converters, image editors (Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.net, Corel Draw, Microsoft Paint).

Miscellaneous other utilities are supported as well, and include archivers, anti-malware solutions, text editors, PDF readers, etc. All these programs are automatically detected if installed on the system.

For safety reasons, you can enable the creation of a restore point before proceeding to complete cleaning of the traces. Furthermore, the application can save the current state of the registry before altering it.

Automatic deletion of backups older than one month can be enabled from the configuration panel so you don’t have to keep tabs on them.

PrivaZer offers the possibility to delete the paging file (pagefile.sys), the virtual swap file in Windows, which is generally the size of the RAM available. The file can be deleted each time the PC shuts down.

Our experience with the program was quite simple: we selected the areas to be scanned, PrivaZer detected the traces and then we instructed it to eliminate them. Everything worked like a charm, with no mishaps or complicated procedures.

We were unable to rescue detected traces as the application does not offer such choice, which is not necessarily a downside considering that PrivaZer is bent on dumping all entries that might giveaway your activity, but some users may want this sort of flexibility.

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The Good

The application is free of charge and there is a portable version available; it features one-click cleaning of web activity.

Offers thorough cleaning of traces both registered by the system and by third-party software, which is detected automatically if installed.

There is a wide choice of secure deletion algorithms for various types of storage devices.

The Bad

Sometimes we noticed it move a bit slow. There is no option to cancel the settings made, only the possibility to restore everything to default.

The Truth

PrivaZer may look like an average cleaning utility, but it does a little more than sweeping traces. It mixes ease of use with efficient and pervasive cleaning algorithms. More importantly, it can be used by novices without running the risk of doing something wrong.

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


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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