Best Free Software
Robert Irvine recommends new programs that won’t cost you a thing
18
(^4) Click Settings to tweak
how Privacy Eraser works
and looks. Options include
preventing it from running
on start-up, excluding
certain folders from its
scans, scheduling regular
clean-ups and customising
its appearance with different
themes.
(^3) Click the Tools tab to access
some useful extra features,
including a startup manager
that lets you stop software
running automatically and
an uninstaller for removing
unwanted programs. You
can also delete system
restore points.
(^2) On the Windows tab, you
can specify which elements
of your operating system
to clean, including File
Explorer data, event logs
and the registry. Similarly,
the Browsers tab lets you
decide which junk to delete
from all your web browsers.
(^1) Once Privacy Eraser has
scanned your PC for junk, it
tells you how many files it’s
found and how much space
you’ll save by deleting them
- 6.6GB in our case. You
can then choose a clean-up
option from the menu in the
top-right corner.
PC CLEANERLike CCleaner, but without that program’s oft-reported
problems, Privacy Eraser frees up space on your hard drive
and protects your privacy by deleting details of your Windows
and web activities. At first, we were slightly sceptical of its
generic name and its interface’s similarity to dubious IObit
products. We also assumed that many features would be
restricted to the Pro version, which costs $19.95 (£16.20) a
year. Happily, our fears were unfounded and Privacy Eraser
Free lacks only three options from the paid-for version:
automatic updates, technical support and secure overwriting
of deleted data.
The program is very easy to use: simply click the big Scan
button on the home screen to detect junk files on your PC
and discover how much space you can recover by removing
them. This takes a while the first time you do it, but you can
speed up future scans and tell Privacy Eraser to ignore data
you want to keep by clicking the Windows and Browsers tabson the left. Untick options such as Start
Menu Recent Items and Typed URLs to
exclude them. There’s also an Applications tab,
which identifies software installed on your PC and lets
you decide which tools to clean. Once the scan is complete,
click Quick Clean to delete the detected junk, ‘Clean &
Restart’ to purge all leftover traces or ‘Clean & Shut down’.
New features in version 5.23 include improved scanning
of cookies you want to keep, so you’re not logged out of
websites, and cleaning of Windows Event logs (which store
details of system operations) and network-usage data.
Additionally, the program’s uninstaller, which you’ll find
on the Tools tab, has been improved to make it faster at
removing unwanted software. Other useful tools include
a File Shredder and a Drive Wiper, though – as mentioned- the free version only overwrites data once, and further
‘passes’ require you to upgrade.
25 May – 7 June 2022 • Issue 632http://www.snipca.com/
What you need: Windows 7, 8.1, 10 or 11Privacy Eraser Free 5.
2
1
4
1
3