Lowvel erases external hard disks and memory cards zero-filling them

Posted on 13 November, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

Zero fill hard disk

Lowvel is a small Windows utility (630Kb) to carry out a low level format of any external device plugged into your computer, like a USB memory card, Firewire Solid State Drive or a conventional external hard disk, Low level formatting is also known as zeroing a disk, filling a hard disk with the character 0 to make sure that all bytes have been overwritten leaving nothing behind for data recovery software to “unerase”, data recovery software counts on files not having been overwritten yet.

Zero fill hard disk with Lowvel

Zero fill hard disk with Lowvel

After installing Lowvel in your hard disk it will detect any external hard disk or USB thumbdrive, select them using the drop down menu and a click on the skull button with word “Start“, that will show you the hard disk model, serial number and capacity, another click on the “Erase” button will start zero-filling the selected device, aka low level format.

This tool is suitable to erase external devices, it can not erase single files, the hard disk where it has been installed, i.e. system disk, can be erased but not securely as Lowvel needs the operating system to run and once the OS ceases to exist the software will stop working, be careful not to select the system disk by accident.

If the files you are going to erase are in use by the operating system (e.g. open) those files will not be erased, a coloured disk map in Lowlev lets you watch the zero filling process with the colour black indicating erased sectors, cyan colour indicating data being erased and red colour indicating that there is a bad sector. A status bar indicates how long there is left to finish the operation,  it is possible to stop the process in the middle but any data that has already been erased is irrecoverable.

An advantage of a low level format is that it helps to detect bad sectors because everything will be overwritten with zeros and the hard disk will be forced to reallocate those bad sectors. Note that zero-filling an SSD disk that is not TRIM capable will take a long time as those disks can not erase data blocks in advance.

Visit Lowvel homepage

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How to permanently delete files from your computer

Posted on 7 September, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

Get rid of computer files for ever

There are many free tools, aka data recovery software, able to make visible again files you have previously deleted, including data that appears to have vanished after emptying the Recycle Bin. Using the keys “Shift +Delete” in Windows to bypass the Recycle Bin will still make those files recoverable, all that Windows does when erasing a file is to delete the records indicating the operating system where the file is located, this makes it invisible to users, but physically, the data, stored on its binary form, still exists.

The only way to make sure that your files have been permanently erased is by overwriting the files you want to get rid of with other data on top by using specialist data wiping software, typical file shredding sofware will use standard schemes like the US Department of Defense DoD 5220.22-M (3 passes), US Department of Defense DoD 5220.22-M(ECE) (7 passes), Peter Gutmann (35 passes), the latter being more of a gimmick that will consume your time and not a real need, to stop data recovery software used by mom-and-pop shops a single overwrite pass with random data will be enough, to stop expensive hardware recovery tools used by law enforcement agencies and corporations use DoD 5220.22 (7 passes).

Secure eraser BCWipe taskmanager

Secure eraser BCWipe taskmanager

You should understand what when you view a document in your computer, Windows will create temporary files of that document all over the operating system, these temporary files consist of back up copies in case of a computer crash or files created for quick access when you run out of RAM memory in the swap file (aka page file), many temporary files are erased by Windows but none of them is securely erased, thus why it is important that good data wiping software includes some form of slack space wiping tool and swap file wiping, when an opponent is unable to recover an overwritten file he will try to discover an old copy in Windows temporary folders or System Restore.

Formatting a hard disk will not erase data

All kind of tracks and confidential data is spread all over your hard disk during the course of its use, like Internet browsing history, if you plan on disposing of the computer, you have no choice but to completely wipe the whole operating system, formatting it is no different from sending the files to the Recycle Bin, to make sure nothing can be recovered everything must be overwritten on top using specialist software.

PCConfidential secure data wiping software

PCConfidential secure data wiping software

Some data wiping algorithms fill the last wiping pass with zeroes, aka zeroing the disk, this way you can use an Hex editor to view the hard disk contents, when you do it all that should show is the character “0″, this is proof that the software has done its job properly and no hard disk sector has been skipped, if something else other than a “0″ is visible, something has gone wrong.

Sanitizing computer data is time consuming, you can save yourself time encrypting the whole hard disk and all of its contents with something like DiskCryptor, if you are not willing to do it then schedule your data wiping software to automatically wipe your hard disk every day or when you log on/off.

Tools to permanently erase files

  • To wipe the whole hard disk including operating system, use DBAN
  • To wipe single files and slack hard disk space use Eraser (Free) or BCWipe (commercial)
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Clean Windows and delete junk files with Weeny Free Cleaner

Posted on 2 September, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

Windows system cleaner

Weeny Free Cleaner is an all-round junk files cleaning software to get rid of Windows temporary files that most users are not even aware have been left behind, the software is composed of a Windows System Cleaner, Internet Browser Cleaner, Windows Registry Cleaner and Disk Drive Cleaner, each section is clearly marked and it has its own settings.

A basic system tweaker, shortcut fixer and secure file deletion are also included, the secure deletion can wipe individual files and folders using a 3 overwrite pass and a labelled “NSA Standard” overwrites selected data with 7 passes.

Weeny Free Cleaner erases Internet browser traces

Weeny Free Cleaner erases Internet browser traces

Internet browser history, cookies, index.dat and cache can all be deleted with a single click, if you want to save specific cookies from deletion they can be added to an exception list, but only Internet Explorer and Firefox are supported. The embedded Windows registry cleaner will get rid of obsolete Registry keys that clog up the computer slowing it down over the time.

Weeny Free Cleaner erases Windows Prefetch files, log files, flash cookies, temporary files, Recycle Bin and a few other places, this cleaner can erase temporary files from non Windows applications, like Winrar, Adobe and ACDSee but it appears that this is mostly reduced to erasing the “Recent file list” leaving behind logs and temp files, clearly not enough for privacy.

I found this Windows System cleaner to be adequate for a freeware, without any WOW factor, most paid for products beat it in features and have a more user friendly interface, Weeny Free Cleaner will do a good job for those requiring light cleaning once in a while and are not at risk of someone using undelete software to recover previously erased temporary files, its best feature is probably the secure file and folder overwriting.

The software will contact Installmonetizer online when you install it, a company helping developers monetize their free software by bundling sponsored applications, like toolbars, the good news is that you can reject it by clicking on decline.

Visit Weeny Free Cleaner homepage

Note:  Make sure to read the screen during installation to stop adware being installed in your computer, also note that Windows temporary files are not overwritten.

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Securely erase entire hard drive with HDShredder free edition

Posted on 1 September, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

Securely wipe whole hard disk

HDShredder is a data wiping utility available in five versions, the free HDShredder version is adequate for home users discarding a computer or wanting to reinstall the operating system making sure that no traces of past activities are left behind.

After downloading the .iso HDShredder needs to be burned to a CD, making it bootable, the software is independent of the operating system, partition layout and file system being used,  it can be employed as an alternative to DBAN with a more user friendly interface, but unlike DBAN, data wiping patterns do not use an international deletion standard, only the HDShredder Standard paid for version does.

HDShredder Free Edition deletion pattern

HDShredder Free Edition deletion pattern

How secure is a single pass data wiping?

Well known computer scientist Peter Guttman presented a paper in 2001 suggesting that an adversary with a electronic microscope (normally only available to highly funded experts with state resources), could find a way to recover previously overwritten data, this lead to subsequent criticism and is open to debate as the paper lacked real examples of substantial previously wiped data having been recovered, but what should be sure is that your next door neighbour using a free undelete utility will be thwarted by HDShredder free edition, if you want to stop a Government from recovering your wiped data then use DBAN or HDShredder Standard Edition.

HDShredder covers entire drive deletion, external or internal hard disk, including the operating system inner workings like registry and temporary folders, Internet history and downloads, typical data mines for computer forensics investigators and identity thieves alike. The software can be used to securely erase more than use disk at once, using the multishred feature, before wiping you will be able to see basic details, like hard disk serial number, brand and controller, time left to securely overwrite the hard disk will be shown in a green progress bar.

The free edition does not support media bigger than 2TB, but it is highly unusual to find a computer with a HDD bigger than 2TB as drives that size are not supported by 32bit operating systems, and 3TB hard disks have only recently been released.

Visit HDShredder homepage

Note: This program can not be used to erase single partitions, single files or single folders, it only performs full hard drive sanitation.

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Permanently erase full hard drive with DBAN

Posted on 24 June, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 4

Thoroughly erase PC hard drive

Darik’s Boot and Nuke, aka DBAN, is a free open source project to entirely wipe your hard drive, including the operating system, this full data wipe should be done when you want to get rid of your computer, before giving it to someone else, selling it or sending it for recycling.

Simply formatting your hard disk with Windows does not make the data irrecoverable, DBAN secure overwrite of your hard disk will thwart all data recovery tools, including the FBI. If you plan on reinstalling your operating system it might be a good idea to wipe it first as data remmants of the old usage will still be left behind even after you format and reinstall Windows, DBAN is system operating system independent, it will work with any computer.

DBAN hard drive secure erase

DBAN hard drive secure erase

DBAN allows for multiple wiping methods, from a quick one pass data wipe up to the 35 times Guttmann data wiping method, using the Guttmann method is unnecessary to stop data recovery and it will possibly take you days to wipe a hard drive with it, choosing a quick one pass overwrite should be enough for most users, for those in need of very high security overwrite the disk 3 times with the DoD Short method, if you want to play the paranoid card use the DoD 5220.22-M 7 passes, DoD standing for US Department of Defense.

The random numbers used to overwrite your hard drive are created using the pseudo random number generator Mersenne Twister or ISAAC method, they are both safe, DBAN will give you more information about the wiping methods being used on the screen when you select them, if in doubt leave the defaults, it has been optimized for everyone, the PRNG choice is given as an extra feature more than a real need, as it will make little difference to change the algorithm used to generate the random data.

An IT department in need of data erasing proof can choose to wipe the hard disk with zeros as the last pass, aka zeroing the disk, when finished, an IT technician can view the disk using an Hexadecimal editor and seeing only zeros written on the disk will confirm that everything worked as expected.

DBAN command line fork

There is a fork of DBAN called Nwipe, this program is command line based, allowing for more hardware support, it can be found in the Parted Magic live CD, you shouldn’t need it unless DBAN doesn’t work in your system which would be rare for someone with home user hardware.

How to burn DBAN to a bootable CD

An .iso image is not like music of films, it is a compact file that contains structured small files inside and it needs to be burned in a particular way.

Make ISO bootable image CDBurnerXP

Make ISO bootable image CDBurnerXP

To make a DBAN bootable CD download any CD burning software first like the free CDBurnerXP, insert a blank CD-R, from the menu on the “Burn ISO options” tab, choose “Burn ISO image”, in the next menu select your .iso file, select “Disc at once”, and leave “Finalize disk” checked, click on “Burn Disk”.

How to wipe a hard drive using DBAN

  • Download DBAN .iso file and burn it to a CD, make it a bootable image
  • Enter your computer BIOS settings and make sure the boot up configuration order has CD first
  • Introduce the DBAN CD, boot up the computer, when DBAN loads type “autonuke” or follow onscreen instructions for a customized har disk wiping

Erasing a ful hard drive can be a long process because every single bit has to be overwritten, how long wiping a full hard disk takes will depend on the hard drive size, the wiping method chosen and the computer processor, the most important factor from all these three being the selected wiping method, overwritting a hard drive one less time can save considerable time.

Visit DBAN homepage

Note: After a hard drive has been securely wiped it is necessary to format it (FAT32, NTFS, etc) before being able to reuse the disk for data storage.

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Self-erasing & self-encrypting Toshiba MKxx61GSYG hard drive

Posted on 9 May, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

Toshiba self-encrypting (SED) and self-erasing drive, series MKxx61GSYG, are targeted at Governments and corporations with high data protection needs, this 2.5″ self erasing hard drive can be used in PC, photocopiers and printers, high end printers and photocopiers can have an internal hard disk caching a copy of the documents to be copied, that data can be retrieved.

The hard drive uses security technology based on specifications from the Trusted Computing Group, a not-for-profit organization with the likes of AMD, Microsoft, IBM and Intel, formed to develop a vendor neutral,  industry standard platform for trusted computing.

How does the self-erasing drive works?

Every time you power up a device equipped with the Toshiba MKxx61GSYG hard drive a security check is performed to make sure that the host authenticates as valid, meaning that it checks the hard drive it is still plugged in the original hardware and has not been removed and plugged in elsewhere. If the authentication process fails, the hard drive can block access to the data, wipe the entire hard disk, wipe specific data blocks or carry out a cryptographic erase of the hard drive.

Toshiba MKxx61GSYG Series

Toshiba MKxx61GSYG Series

What is a cryptographic erase?

A cryptographic erase is the process by which keys that allow a system to decrypt data are wiped, this is different from a regular erase that takes a long time to be carried out, by erasing the crypto keys to the fully encrypted drive the data will be permanently encrypted and unreadable, it is possible to keep a backup of the encryption keys by the owner and when reinstated, hard drive decryption will be possible again.

Toshiba hard drive encryption

The files on the hard drive remain encrypted at all times, data is decrypted on the fly while the drive is used, the Toshiba Kxx61GSYG series encrypts data using AES 256-bit, a very strong cipher with no back door that not even state sponsored adversaries can crack, the hard drive is FIPS 197 certified by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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Erase Internet tracks with Web Browsers Traces

Posted on 7 April, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

If you use more than one web browser in your computer and are looking for a free application that will erase all of your visited websites history, Internet browser cache and cookies, look no further than Web Browsers Traces eraser.

This privacy cleaner specially tailored to get rid of Internet tracks left by the browser will delete find to hard temporary data stored in Windows temporary folders, the Java cache and notoriously difficult to erase Flash cookies. Web Browsers Tracers supports history cleaning for over a dozen Internet browsers, from the most well known Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera to the little used Flock, K-Meleon, SeaMonkey and QtWeb browser.

Anyone who has erased his browser cookies before will know that one big annoyance is that you will have to reconfigure again some sites settings once the cookie is gone, you can instruct Web Browsers Traces to never delete cookies from sites you trust, like for example your webmail provider.

 

Web Browsers Traces eraser

Web Browsers Traces eraser

Web Browsers Traces is a very tiny download of 350Kb, a portable version is available too, ideal for those wanting to get rid of their Internet tracks and browsing from an Internet cafe or library, you can carry this Internet privacy cleaner inside a USB thumbdrive and run it after you have finished your session.

If you want an easy to use Internet privacy cleaner this freeware will do a good job, it has on its side that supports an incredible number of browsers and it erases files that are hard to reach manually, on the downside, the erased files will not be securely wiped, specialist undelete software should be able to uncover your Internet browsing history, Web Browsers Traces provides enough privacy level for a home user worried about a snooping wife or friends sharing the same computer, if you want serious privacy look into a paid for solution that will securely overwrite the erased data, if just want to stop the casual snooper, this tool will get the job done.

Web Browsers Traces eraser homepage

Update 2013: Product no longer exists, link erased.

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How do I erase my Internet browsing history?

Posted on 30 March, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

Clear your Internet browser cache

Every time a new browser version comes out settings change the instructions given here are guaranteed to help you clear your Internet browser history if you are using the specified browser brand and version.

You must be aware that erasing your Internet browsing traces using the following methods will not fool specialist data recovery software, but it will stop anyone sharing the same computer as you from looking into your Internet browsing traces.

If you want to make sure your browsing history can not be recovered by anyone ever, including computer experts, then download specialist data wiping software that will overwrite the Internet cache files and browser history.

How to delete the Internet Explorer history on a PC

1) Erasing IE 9 browsing history using a short cut:
Click on CTRL+SHIFT+DEL

Internet Explorer erase browsing history

Internet Explorer erase browsing history

2) Erasing IE browsing history manually: In Internet Explorer 9 go to Internet Options (wheel icon), choose Internet Settings, make sure you are in the General Tab, look at where it says Delete right below where it says Browsing history, click on the Delete button and a new window will open granting you some choices to remove your browsing traces.

Internet Explorer erase browsing history

Internet Explorer erase browsing history

How to delete Opera browser history using a single click

To erase all of your Opera 11 internet browser traces go to:
Menu>Settings>Delete private data

Opera erase Internet browser history

Opera erase Internet browser history

How to delete Firefox browser history using a single click

To erase all of your Firefox 4 internet browser traces go to:
Firefox>History>Clear recent history

Firefox clear Internet browser history

Firefox clear Internet browser history

How to delete Chrome browser history using a single click

To erase all of your Chrome 11 internet browser traces in Windows go to:
Options>Under the Hood>Clear Browsing Data
To ease Chrome internet browser history in a MAC computer go to: 
Chrome>Click Clear Browsing Data

Chrome browser erase history

Chrome browser erase history

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Clean Temporary Places erases Windows temporary files

Posted on 16 February, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

Erase Windows temporary files

Windows stores temporary files in unsuspecting places, even after wiping data safely it is perfectly possible that if you opened a file with a text editor or viewed it with Windows Media player a temporary back up copy could have been stored by Windows somewhere in your hard disk.

There are thousand of Windows system files that the user never gets to see, typical places where Windows and other programs store temporary files are the prefetch folder, Windows temp folder, Internet Explorer cache, etc. You can customize Clean Temporary Places to erase data from specific folders, this is as easy as checking a box, Microsoft Updates uninstall files that normally remain behind can also be erased. Its tab navigation system makes this junk files cleaner easy to navigate and configure, Clean Temporary Places will show you a graph of the data being cleared out and the hard disk size space you have regained.

Windows cleaner Clean Temporary Places

Windows cleaner Clean Temporary Places

This open source program is an easy to use simple junk files cleaner, not amazing, but good value for money (i.e. it’s free). The only problem is that it only covers Windows, this software will not erase temporary files created by non system applications you have downloaded off the Internet, like WinAmp, WinRar or ACDSee, Clean Temporary Places capabilities are limited to mostly erasing Windows temporary files, you can configure it to remove other applications temporary files, but only if you know folders they are using, no easy feat.

NOTE: Clean Temporary Places will not overwrite your files, this is a junk files cleaner not a secure wiper.

Visit Clean Temporary Places homepage

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Review Secure Wipe, erasing files and folders beyond recovery

Posted on 15 February, 2011 by Daniel | Permalink 0

Simple easy to use data wiper

The best feature of this simple to use tiny (890Kb) freeware wiping software called Secure Wipe, is the wide range of algorithms available to securely erase your files or folders. You can indicate manually how many times you want to erase the file or folder too, Secure Wipe settings can  be configured to run in the background while erasing (silent mode),  reduce memory usage, delete subfolders or/and exit the program when finished.

There is no help manual included but this data erasing software is very intuitive to use, I didn’t feel a help file was needed unless it is to explain what each wiping algorithm does. To operate Secure Wipe it is as easy as using Secure Wipe interface to select the file or folder you want to permanently get rid of, click on the Erase button and you are done. A portable version of Secure Wipe is available for download too.

Secure Wipe data applicable wiping algorithms

  • Guttmann method (35 passes)
  • RCMP- Royal Canadian Mounted Police (3 passes)
  • US Department of Defence (3 passes)
  • US Department of Defence (7 passes)
  • Single pass using 1s (1 pass)
  • Overwriting using pseudorandom data (1 pass)
Free data wiping software Secure Wipe

Free data wiping software Secure Wipe

Secure Wipe disadvantages

I found two major disadvantages using this wiping software, Vista 64 bit asked me for administration rights to run the portable version of Secure Wipe, this is not a problem at home but it will be at a public computer as you are not likely to have admin rights there and won’t be able to run it. The other disadvantage is that once you start erasing a file you can not discontinue it, there is no cancel or stop button.

Secure Wipe testing

I tested Secure Wipe to overwrite a 1.4GB file using a single pass and I wasn’t too happy with the speed, I have used dozens of data wiping software before and although the selected file was huge, having into account that I was using a single overwrite with 1s, IMO it took an unusual amount of time to wipe it, with the added headache that I could not cancel the wiping, after 30 minutes of waiting and looking at the wiping progress bar still at the beginning I clicked on CTRL+ALT+DEL and manually terminated Secure Wipe from Windows.

There is the small possibility that I had chosen a wiping algorithm with more than one pass by mistake, we can’t know this for sure because the checkbox can be changed even after the software has already started wiping files, in any event I would still blame the problem on Secure Wipe, once you start erasing a file the wiping settings should remain rock solid to avoid confusions.

Conclusion review Secure Wipe

My personal verdict is that Secure Wipe is not up to the job due to the usability problems described above, my main concern is that settings do not stay anchored once you start erasing and that you can’t cancel the operation if it is taking too long. It felt amateurish, give me the free ProtectStar Data shredder software over Secure Wipe any time of the day.

Visit Secure Wipe homepage

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