what does spybot erase erase, files, free spce, what?

[diligentinquirer]

Hi everyone.

I would like to know exactly what the function of sbybot "erase" is. Does it solely erase one file, multiple files or disk free space? If there is info I can read, thats great. Thanks, Diligent

[diligentinquirer]

oops, also need to know if spybot "erase" actually clears or "erases" the data from the (e.g.) c drive hard disk.

Thanks again, Diligent

[PepiMK]

It's not the file shredder, for which it is usually mistaken (therefore, it's not in the final 1.5.2 release, at least not by default). At least if you're referring to the Windows Explorer context menu entry "Erase using...". That one actually is kind of a "kill-delete" option that allows you to remove files that resist the standard file removal methods (like malware running in memory does).
More kind of a pro's tool, that'll be officially back once we find a better way to allow the user to choose whether he wants it :)

[diligentinquirer]

Thanks a bunch PepiMK. I appreciate your straight answer.

If you, or anyone, has a suggestion on what is a good free space wipe program, it sure would be appreciated. Of course freeware would be great. Thanks, Diligent

[lm10021]

Thanks a bunch PepiMK. I appreciate your straight answer.

If you, or anyone, has a suggestion on what is a good free space wipe program, it sure would be appreciated. Of course freeware would be great. Thanks, Diligent

In my experience you can't go wrong with Ace Utilities:
http://www.acelogix.com/aceutils.html

Free, 30 day trial (complete version, not crippled) then $29.95 and lifetime upgrades. Worth every penny in my very humble opinion. I currently have it running on about 20 different Win OS machines at various clients w/varying degrees of computer skill, so far so good. And, the lawyers love it, because it does really, really thorough wipes. You can choose what standard/#of wipes (DoD, etc.). Also does complete IE cleaning, incl. the notorious "index.dat" file. Looks like it now supports Vista too.

I have no affiliation with them, just really like the product, and so does everyone I've recommended it to.

Hope that helps.

[diligentinquirer]

To lm10021:

In a certain way, this is amazing.

I'm a case law researcher for some lawyers & individuals.

Your reply was right on point. Much appreciated.

Could we share info? You just gave me some, I have some, and so why not.

Don't know whats OK with spybot rules, so if an exchange of info is ok with you, to start

Thanks much for the info. I want to help you too. Jim.

[zerokelvin]

Somewhere in the forums a question was asked about shredder deleting the files name vs shredding the file contents. (I can't seem to find the post, so here goes my experience).

I created a very unique text file with Notepad and saved to the desktop.

I used Disk Investigator to view the file contents, obtained the location of the file contents (cluster # and Sector #).

After running Shredder in default mode (6 passes), the file was 'deleted' from the desktop. However, when looking at the sector and cluster - the data was still there. I was suspicious how FAST SHREDDER operated with 6 passes and wanted to see for myself.

After setting the number of passes to maximum (35 passes) the data could not be found in the original cluster/sector. There was what appeared to be random data but not the original data.

So, I would conclude that setting the passes to maximum might do the trick. But, not knowing the threshold number of passes that will erase the data makes a difference I assume when there is a very large vs the time to complete the task. Fast is good, accurate is better.

This process was repeated three times and the results were the same.

What are your experiences?
Am I missing something?
and finally what does BUMP mean in some of the posts?
Cheers

[drragostea]

Well, I might as well give my two cents.
I'm not so familiar with the clusters and block #s, but I have a general understanding of what the Shredder does. Basically, it is used to (it's goal) is to remove files permanently from the computer, thus making it difficult to recover it (if not impossible). Another basic idea is the more passes, equals less change of it being able to be recovered.

35 passes should be the maximum amount, using Secure Shredder at it's fullest potential.
-
To "bump" means to post another response in a thread before anyone else has responded. So it'll be like posting another response before I could contribute or reply.

Bumps would be like "Hello? Anyone there?" or "Please help me!!!", and etc.

A good "shredder" tool would be 'Eraser' by Heidi:
http://www.heidi.ie/node/6
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