Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, Freeware, Leopard
Permanent Eraser 2.3.3
Should Auld Acquaintance be deleted... then too bad! Especially if you are using Edenwaith's free Permanent Eraser product. Unlike Disk Utility (and Mac OS X's secure empty trash), this disk eraser will over-write data 35 times (versus secure empty trash's 7 times). What many users don't know is that when you delete a file from your computer, it's not really deleted; the operating system just marks that space as "free." However, this software will over-write the area of the hard drive where the data remains until it is scrambled and unable to be read.This software received a new update yesterday that improves a bug that limited you to deleting 250 files. This application also has full Mac OS X Leopard support; including new icons for Leopard. In addition to deleting files in the trash can, you can also drag files to the icon to securely delete them.
This application can be downloaded for free from the Edenwaith website or from Mac Update.
[via Mac Update]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
maybesew said 7:11PM on 12-31-2007
disk utility can over write 35 times, its an advanced option
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Ed said 7:14PM on 12-31-2007
Was just going to say that. They give you the option of 1, 5, or 35-pass overwrite, if i remember correctly.
Cory Bohon said 7:34PM on 12-31-2007
Right, Disk Utility WILL do 35 passes, but if you want to securely delete files using the Trash, it will only do 7 passes. This utility is for deleting files, not erasing the entire drive.
maybesew said 7:45PM on 12-31-2007
Just some constructive criticism on the writing then. If this utility should be compared to secure empty trash, then make that the main subject of the sentence instead of the parathentical. If I take out what is in your parentheses, the sentence reads like so:
Unlike Disk Utility, this disk eraser will over-write data 35 times.
Which you admit is a) incorrect and b) not the point you were really trying to make.
If also might be of note to mention how long it takes to overwrite things 35 times, compared to 7, or 1. When I have blanked drives with disk utility using 35 pass it has taken close to 5 days to complete.
Gray_hat said 4:46PM on 1-01-2008
Actually, you can write over all the space on your harddrive that is not currently being used 35 times by using the "Erase Free Space…" button.
Luigi193 said 7:32PM on 12-31-2007
But I believe this is for deleting files, not the whole HDD like in Disk Utility...
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Alan said 7:34PM on 12-31-2007
Is this really necessary? I understand that if it is a document that is supposed to be kept out of reach of people, but 5 passes or 7 passes would not do good enough?
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Ed said 8:31PM on 12-31-2007
35-pass overwriting is for the conspiracy theorist in all of us.
Jason Madigan said 7:50PM on 12-31-2007
A single pass is enough, MFM encoded drives do not exist anymore and Guttman's paper has been invalid for many years.
See: http://www.nber.org/sys-admin/overwritten-data-guttman.html & http://shsc.info/DataRecovery
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sys_ops911 said 2:59AM on 1-01-2008
maybe mentioning that WITH the understanding of journaling would have been better. There are plenty of reasons to wipe more than once, once is not enough.
Don't believe me? Wipe some files with a 0 pass then run recovery software.
Trevor said 11:28AM on 1-01-2008
Journaling does not change the fact that a 35-pass erase is pointless. While you are correct that journaling (as well as other filesystem complications, such as the slack space at the end of allocated data blocks) may allow recovery of a portion of a file after it's been overwritten, doing the same overwrite dozens times still doesn't help. If the first 34 passes didn't erase the metadata, a 35th pass won't erase it either. For drives manufactured after 2001, the Gutmann method is simply no longer valid.
Jason Madigan said 11:27AM on 1-05-2008
maybe mentioning that WITH the understanding of how disks work and how nothing, including journalling, used upon them change this would have been better.
Gazmik Fizzwidget said 7:56PM on 12-31-2007
Disk Utility can do a 35-pass erase, either when erasing an entire volume or from the "Erase Free Space" option (which, as you might guess from the name, does the whole random-rewrite stuff to all the empty space on your drive). True, the built-in OS X GUI apps don't offer a way to do 35-pass erase upon emptying the Trash, but that's quite different from saying they don't do it at all.
A further tip: the srm command-line tool uses a 35-pass erase by default (with options -m or -s for 7-pass or single-pass, respectively).
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Trevor said 8:20PM on 12-31-2007
Overwriting a file 35 times over is a complete waste of time. This blog post explains why:
http://vocaro.com/trevor/blog/2006/09/18/the-myth-of-the-gutmann-method/
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sys_ops911 said 2:59AM on 1-01-2008
again, wipe some files then do a recovery - you will find that is wrong.
Red said 3:56AM on 1-01-2008
Just read the myth of the Gutmann method - makes sense and has gone some way to putting my paranoias to bed - thanks!
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