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Virus Scan for Secure Eraser

Securely Delete Sensitive Files Beyond Any Chance of Recovery

Secure Eraser lets you securely and permanently delete files and folders, beyond any chance of recovery, using advanced Department of Defense and industrial techniques.

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What are people saying about Secure Eraser

John H Does anyone have experience with this? The License is very generous for a single user.

Apr 16 2019 at 12:25am Copy Link

Richard Blake Andreas, I am not in a position to install and test the software at this time. After reading what is here and on your website it is my understanding that:
a) Secure Eraser (SE) is an application that is installed in Windows and executed like any application after booting the computer into Windows;
b) It offers a graphical interface through which the user can locate a folder or a specific file and overwrite it, possibly choosing method of overwrite;
c) when a folder is selected every file within the folder (subject to the next point) is erased, then the folder itself is erased (so that there is no record of the names, sizes, dates [or even the number of] the files that were in that folder);
d) only files that are accessible to the current user are accessible to SE. If you can open the file to edit it, or you can delete the file, then SE can erase it. A computer used by more than one person will require that each person log in and erase their own files, if those files are stored in \Users\{usrname} (or \Documents and Settings\{usrname}, in order to wipe all user files from the disk. Due to license terms this will require a separate license for each person who uses the computer.
e) SE is not meant to wipe an entire partition or drive. It cannot erase the files of the running operating system. It cannot create bootable media to operate on disks connected either internally (IDE/SATA) or externally (USB/Firewire). It can operate on external disks, for partitions that are compatible with Windows (FAT/exFAT/NTFS) and for which a drive letter is assigned. But it can operate only on folders and files for which the user has the appropriate privileges.

Please correct any misunderstandings.

Q: According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS, "Files smaller than approximately 900 bytes are stored within the directory entry of the MFT." Will SE overwrite the data of such files, or will it only touch files that reside in their own sectors, outside the MFT?
Q: In Feb 2014 a user reported on the forum that an attempt to delete TEMP files caused SE to look for files in the default location of the temp directory, rather than the location specified by the TEMP environment variable. That is not how a Windows application should work. Does SE now respect TEMP env vars?
Q: Could a system restore point contain any user data that one would want to securely erase before discarding a drive? Can SE erase restore point files?
Q: I am surprised that SE is up to version 5. Is a change log posted? The only updates that come to mind are: speed improvements; more secure erase algorithms; English edition; bug fixes. At least the last two would not be major version number increments. What have I overlooked?

If you were to sell, donate or discard your computer or its hard drive, is Secure Erase the program you would use to sanitize the drive?

Apr 16 2019 at 3:33pm Copy Link

John H I just purchased this. It takes a while to get the link to the software.

Looks like I need to reboot after uninstalling the free version ... am too busy to do that now . Grrr.

This program needs a direct to button for the recycle bin otherwise you have to drill down the file tree to wherever Microsoft has hidden it. It would also be nice to have drag and drop of files to delete.

The interface is simple and clean. I like it so far except for the Recycle Bin issue.

Apr 16 2019 at 6:40pm Copy Link

Mike Shanahan Richard, I guess the developer decided not to participate this time. There is so much I could respond to but will cut to the heart of the matter. What would I do to sanitize a drive? Before sale, or even before a clean install to reuse a drive (HDD or SSD), I would 1) Use an open source (and free) tool like Eraser to wipe the *entire* drive, 2) Using a USB stick to boot to either WinPE or Linux, use VeraCrypt (or similar) to fully encrypt the drive with a strong random key, it doesn't have to be memorable because you're never going to be using it again. 3) Using the same USB stick with a simple partitioning too, format the disk for re-use or alternately, dispose of the drive. Overkill? Perhaps. But it's safe and a lot more practical than physically destroying a drive yourself.

Tip to all: if you live in or near a big city (top 50 in the United States), you will easily find a data shredder who will also have a shredder specifically built to destroy hardware such as hard drives, mobile devices, etc. For about $5 - $15 per drive or device, you will give physical possession to the shredder attendant who will, right before your eyes turn your old hard drive into either tiny pieces and compacted, or drilled through 3 or 4 times and crushed. For many, whether business or individual, it's worth the peace of mind that any wiping software just can't give.

Apr 16 2019 at 8:18pm Copy Link

Andreas Stroebel @Mike Shanahan

Did you ever think about different time zones the developer could live in? I usually do not work thru the entire night (at least not every day).

There is no need at all to physically destroy a drive. You can connect a drive to another computer at any time and completely erase/shredder it using Secure Eraser using worldwide accepted deletion standards.

ASCOMP Software GmbH - Apr 17 2019 at 1:22am Copy Link

Andreas Stroebel @Richard Blake

You are right with a/b/c/d/e questions/assumptions.

Regarding your other questions:

900b files: Secure Eraser can securely overwrite them as well.

Temp folder: For pre-defined folders in "Clean drive" menu, Secure Eraser used and uses the default temp folder location as recommended by Microsoft.

Restore points: Of course, restore points can contain such files. And yes, Secure Eraser can erase them as well, but you must select them manually. Secure Eraser would never delete a backup somewhere outside of your selected files/folders range. And - of course - this is nothing a software should do at any time!

Version history can be found in help file, even in standard version (available for free to download) of Secure Eraser.

"If you were to sell, donate or discard your computer or its hard drive, is Secure Erase the program you would use to sanitize the drive?"

It not just would be the first selection, it already was it several times. Every computer my company sold over the last 10 years has been sanitized by Secure Eraser.

ASCOMP Software GmbH - Apr 17 2019 at 1:31am Copy Link

Mike Shanahan Andreas, Please. The deal had *expired* for a few hours before your first post to Bits. It’s bad form to make excuses and blame the customer.

I never said there is a “need” to physically destroy a drive. I only pointed it out as an option. I also question your making it sound as if Secure Eraser is the only software able to do x, y, and z. Secure deletion is available in literally hundreds and hundreds of software products, and many are free, using the exact same methods used in Secure Eraser. You mention Secure Eraser “even” has the ability to wipe the drive 35 times (using the Gutmann method) without mentioning that Gutmann himself says it is 34 erases too many on modern drives and serves no purpose - at all - on current hard drives.

Apr 17 2019 at 8:29am Copy Link

Andreas Stroebel @Mike Shanahan

Do you expect from me to stay awake as long as the deal is running?

And no, I never said that Secure Eraser is the only option. In addition, I never said something about Peter Gutmann standard. Please be fair and don't write alternative facts, thank you! ;-)

Btw: If somebody was waiting for my reply prior to purchase and now the deal expired, please just write an e-mail to support@ascomp.de and I offer you a link to get the discounted price.

ASCOMP Software GmbH - Apr 17 2019 at 10:16am Copy Link

John H I wish BDJ would moderate some of this stupid nonsense that detracts from the actual product.

It distracted the developer from my question and I actually purchased the product.

I could shoot down many BDJ offerings with alternatives but most offering have something to offer even stood up to competition and free stuff.

Apr 17 2019 at 11:03pm Copy Link

fpi fpi The current version is 7.000 (March 7, 2025)

Apr 8 2025 at 5:55am Copy Link

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