Effectiveness?

[User000]

I have been using eraser to erase my hdd free space, but i found this neat little app http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-U...storation.shtml

 

It is capable of recoverying my files, and also capable of deleteing them. I have run the delete forever function many times, and its good i can't even recover them in directory snoop (forget the url).

 

THe speed in which it overwrites is suspicious however, it seems to do a good job, but how does it compare to eraser? In directory snoop after a eraser free space wipe i can still see files ZZZZZZZ.ZZZ and etc. After this one all i see is - theres nothing about a file. So i'm wondering how this stacks up to eraser. can anyone tell me what i would be better off using to delete my file contents? for faster file recovery? Thank you.

[n8chavez]

Well, I'm not really sure if this will help you but I will tell you what I know. I have tried Restoration and am an avid user of eraser 5.83. As far as I can tell Restoration is not actually able to recover any data that was erased with eraser. My scan showed random file names with random extensions as well as random folder names. Just out of curiosity, I tried to restore a file with a .jpeg extension and no program was able to open it. That makes me wonder if indeed it was an image or f it was just given that extension. I think you are covered despite Restoration's results because no one will be able to do anything with the files it finds nor see what kind of file they were.

[User000]

I use eraser alot as well, i was just wondnering if restoration was better at free space wipes or if eraser was. As eraser leaves behind ZZZZZZ.ZZZ files in recovery things. But restoration leaves no files to be recovered. I want to know which is beter at free space wiping.

 

Thank you.

[n8chavez]

You are right. After "delete completely' with Restoration and then doing a c:\ scan there were np files listed. Not so with Eraser. I even tried using Recuva and seeing what it saw and the result was the same. I am a bit weary of one thing though: the deleting process with Restoration was rather quick. That leads me to believe that it is not being as securely erased as things are with eraser, where you can actually pick the method used. I have no idea what is beign done with Restoration erasing. That leads me to think that Eraser is better in that regard. Also, I was prompted to do a second scan after deleting free space with Restoration. I think that might be what is leading to the scan results. If this is the case, then Eraser should incorporate something similar with their product. But again, just becayse you cannot see any file names does not mean that there are not any there to recover. Conversely, just because files are listed does not mean that they are going to be recoverable. My suggestion, at least for the time being, is to use a combination of Eraser, using a secure erase method, and Restoration, because of that second scan. That way you are sure you are 'safe'. I will mention this at the Eraser forums.

 

Thank You.

[User000]

You are right. After "delete completely' with Restoration and then doing a c:\ scan there were np files listed. Not so with Eraser. I even tried using Recuva and seeing what it saw and the result was the same. I am a bit weary of one thing though: the deleting process with Restoration was rather quick. That leads me to believe that it is not being as securely erased as things are with eraser, where you can actually pick the method used. I have no idea what is beign done with Restoration erasing. That leads me to think that Eraser is better in that regard. Also, I was prompted to do a second scan after deleting free space with Restoration. I think that might be what is leading to the scan results. If this is the case, then Eraser should incorporate something similar with their product. But again, just becayse you cannot see any file names does not mean that there are not any there to recover. Conversely, just because files are listed does not mean that they are going to be recoverable. My suggestion, at least for the time being, is to use a combination of Eraser, using a secure erase method, and Restoration, because of that second scan. That way you are sure you are 'safe'. I will mention this at the Eraser forums.

 

Thank You.

 

I had thought so, i think it's a good idea to use eraser 35 pass wipe or nsa 7 wipe and then use restoration erase. Thanks you just about answered my question, ill look for your thread on the eraser forums =p will be interesting read.

[n8chavez]

I don't really think that a 35 wpie method is necesary. As long as you are smart with a method you create you should be fine. For instance

 

1 Pseudorandom Data

2 Pseudorandom Data

3 Pseudorandom Data

4 Pseudorandom Data

5 Pseudorandom Data

6 1010101001010101

7 0101010110101010

8 0000000000000000

9 Pseudorandom Data

10 0000000000000000

 

Ten wipes and your set. 35 is too rough on the disks. Just be smart....not brutish.