Eraserlets you stack multiple files and
delete them on command or ona schedule
Overwrit ing data multiple times is more
securebut takes longerUse Command Prompt to wipe free spacefrom a drive and make file s unrecoverable48 29 May - 11 June 2019
Securely delete
individualfiles
The only way tosecurelydelete afileis
toremoveall reference toit fromyour
hard drive’s index,thenoverwritethe
sectorsit’s containedinwith useless,
dummy data. Thatmay sound tricky, but
this ispreciselythe two-stepprocess
thatthe excellent freetoolEraser
simplifies. Downloadthe mostrecent
edition of the programfromthe top of
the listatbit.ly/eraser476.
LaunchEraser, thenpressCtrl+Nto
start anewjob.Decidewhetheryou
wanttodelete yourfilesmanually,
immediatelyorwhenWindows restarts,
thenclickAddData, followed by
Browse. Navigate tothe fileyou want
todelete,thenselectit andclickOpen.
Expandthe ‘Erasuremethod’ menu
and chooseone of the securedeletion
options –many of them meet exacting
militarystandards, but for anything
otherthanthe mostsensitive files, the
PseudorandomDataoptionshould
suffice. Althoughthisdoesn’t guarantee
toput your databeyondthe reach ofa
hardenedhacker, it shouldeasily outwit
a casualidentitythief by overwritingit
witha seriesofzeroes.
Click OKtoaddyourselected fileto
the job list,thenoptionallyclickAdd
Data again and add another file. Carry
onlikethisuntilyou’veselectedall the
filesyou wanttoremove, thenclickOK.
There’s nowarning orconfirmation,so
beverycareful if you’rehavingsecond
thoughtsabout the deletion,because
Eraserwill immediatelystart workon
destroyingyourfiles, with aprogress
bar showing you howclose it isto
completion.
You can alsouse Erasertosecurely
removefolders fromyourhard drive,From financial records and sensitive documents to personal emailsandembarrassing photos, there aregood reasons to ensure erasedfiles are permanently unrecoverable. Nik Rawlinson explains howbyclicking AddDataandchoosing
‘FilesinFolder’ fromthe ‘Target type’
menu. Makesure the optionto‘Delete
folderif empty’isalsoticked.What about files you’ve
alreadydeleted?
If you’vepreviouslydeletedindividual
filesfromyourhard drive, but without
using the thoroughmethods offered by
Eraser, you might bewondering how
you can removethe remnantsnowthat
Windowscan nolongerlocatethem.
The answerliesina little-known
text-basedcommand, which will
securelydelete anythingcurrently
residing in‘unused’ drive space.
Effectively,it will make sure that
anythingthatdoesn’t appearinthe
drive’s official index offilesisdestroyed.
Click the Start menu and typecomm,
thenpickCommandPromptfromthe
listofresults.Nowtypecipher
/w:d:\. Inthisinstance,we’re wiping
the freespace on drive D:but if you
wanttouse adifferent drive,justswap
its letter. You can alsotargetspecific
folders –for example,cipher /w:d:\
Documents\letters\.
The processisfairlyslow, particularly
onlarge drives, andyou shouldavoid
using yourPCfor anythingelsewhile it’s
doing its job. Simpletext-based
feedbackshows howfarthe deletion has
got, but not howlongit stillhas torun.Destroy your privatedata foreverDestroy your privatedata forever