drive wiper and wipe free space

[hotsone]

if i use drive wiper from the tool box icon it says over 6hrs to wipe the free space so i usually let in run for a while to see!!! and then cancel after about an hour, but if i use the wipe free space in the Ccleaner advanced area it wipes the free space in less than 1 hour, the free space is 28gb using windows 7. any body no why the difference, are they both doing the same function, any advice appreciated, regards john

[John Hind]

Most likely explanation is that you have got different security options set. The method for the Cleaner Advanced processing is set on Options/Settings (I assume that leaving the setting at "Normal file deletion" is the same as selecting "Secure file deletion" and leaving it at "Simple Overwrite"). However the method for Drive Wiper is set on the Security dropdown on the tool itself - if you set a multi-pass method the time will be multiplied by the number of passes (roughly).

 

I tested it on my system with the "Simple Overwrite" method set for both and it estimates roughly 30 minutes in both Drive Wiper and Cleaner.

[Augeas]

Yes, just to clarify I believe that the Secure Deletion parameters in the Options/Settings are for File deletion and have no effect on the Wipe Free Space option. With WFS in Options/Settings you get one pass of zeroes.

 

In Drive Wiper you have the choice of selecting multiple overwrites for wiping free space, should you so wish.

[John Hind]

Yes, just to clarify I believe that the Secure Deletion parameters in the Options/Settings are for File deletion and have no effect on the Wipe Free Space option. With WFS in Options/Settings you get one pass of zeroes.

Hm.. That seems like a sub-optimal design. I would certainly expect that if I select a higher security option for file deletion then that option would be honoured for WFS in Options/Settings. If I am paranoid, I am paranoid, paranoia is not selective!

 

Indeed if WFS is selected, it should not be necessary to do the secure deletion for any files deleted in that run because the sectors in those files will become free space and would then be wiped by the free space wiper at the end of the process.

[Augeas]

Not necessarily. One option is for file deletion, the other is for WFS. The two are separate entities and both can be quite validly specified: a user could, for instance run CC daily without the WFS box in the Cleaner panel checked in order to do secure file deletion, and then on occasion check the box to wipe the selected drives.

[Alan_B]

Hm.. That seems like a sub-optimal design.

With respect, I would say it is ultra-optimal.

 

If the user really wants to 35-pass securely delete a file he can do so instead of a simple delete,

and his top secret 1 MB file will not take many seconds to process.

If he mistakenly deletes and then realises his error, to Wipe a 100 GB free space will take some hours,

but to be forced by default into a 35 pass WFS is extreme cruelty.

 

If the user really wants to multi-pass WFS I believe he has that option under Drive Wiper.

 

Personally I have no experience of wiping files or WFS - I would like to keep it that way ! !

 

Alan

[John Hind]

Personally I have no experience of wiping files or WFS - I would like to keep it that way ! !

Good call! The only place I'd use it is from the Drive Wiper and then only when preparing a drive for sale. Also as I've reported in another thread, I have recently had reason to distrust CCleaner Drive Wipe and have little confidence that it is actually doing what it claims.

 

My criticism is mainly about transparency and reporting - it ought to do what the user might reasonably expect it to do, or else clearly state what it is going to do. My point is simply that, given there is no explicit setting for WFS wiping method and there is a setting for file wiping method, many users will assume as I did that the setting for files applied to free space also, or as the original poster did, that the setting in the Drive Wiper tool would also apply to the WFS option.

 

I do not think the point about the time taken is very germain - even the one-pass method is going to take a long time on most disks, but having a separate option for files and freespace would satisfy if this is thought to be a real issue.