Free Space Drive Wiper - Critical Data Safety Concerns?

[Dan Bee]

Iolo have removed this facility from their System Mechanic software due to, '...a significant change by Microsoft to the Windows file system for all Windows versions from XP through 10. It was discovered that using the Free Space Wipe feature can now also occasionally wipe valuable data, including critical portions of the Windows OS itself. Microsoft has updated the file system maintenance behavior in way that causes existing Free Space disk sectors to now frequently have valuable data in them. In other words, Windows is now dynamically and unpredictably shifting the location of data across the disk platter, making it unreliable to pinpoint where the free space actually is. Due to this change in Windows, Microsoft warns that there is no safe method for wiping just free space.'

This statement on their website is of concern because CCleaner still has this facility operative. Can someone from CCleaner put my mind at rest before I use it as this is a facility I would really like the option to use 'if it is was safe'. If it can be used, what has CCleaner done to make it safe again?

[hazelnut]

Do you mean this from 2019?

https://support.iolo.com/support/solutions/articles/44001869137-does-drivescrubber-wipe-free-space-

[Augeas]

NTFS was upgraded to version 3.1 on the introduction of Windows XP in late 2001. I can't see any changes there that would cause problems though.

A user complained about this with the upgrade to DriveScrubber v14-6, in March 2016.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/i-am-unable-to-use-the-iolo-drivescrubber-software/9c72ea12-351f-465e-9591-0434ada6be20

I have no idea why this has been postulated, and I can find no other comments about this online.

As far as I know CC requests NTFS to allocate enough files to fill the volume, and then deletes them, so it is NTFS that is managing the free - and allocated - space on the drive. If Microsoft is using free space to hold data and allowing that space to be allocated to a user file then it's er, suicidal. Iolo's website is particularly unhelpful, so who knows if they are talking sense or not. I would like to know where 'Microsoft warns that there is no safe method for wiping just free space' can be found.

Of course it could be that the method that DriveScrubber uses to wipe free space was flawed, and they hadn't the resources or inclination to update it, so they chopped it. That gets my bet.

[Andavari]

There are good wipe free space tools that don't wipe actual files... ...and then there's some rubbish ones that aren't coded correctly or that are so buggy that they will wipe files including Windows OS files. By the time someone figures out they're using a rubbish one it's too late unfortunately.

[Dan Bee]

Hi Hazelnut - Thanks for your contribution. Yes, that 1st link is where I found IOLO's comment. 

Augeas - Your answer made very interesting reading and it could certainly offer a possibility I will bear in mind. However, it doesn't help me forward with my anxiety over using

CCleaner's Free Space Wiper. If IOLO has declared this as fact when it is their skill-set at fault, then I really wish I knew the right answer as it is haqving a marvellous effect of putting me off using Free Space Wiper altogether.

Andavari - Are there any free space wipe tools you can recommend? Have you used CCleaner's?

Thanks to all who have replied but I'd love to get to the bottom of this.

 

[hazelnut]

On 05/11/2023 at 15:06, Dan Bee said:

 Windows is now dynamically and unpredictably shifting the location of data across the disk platter, making it unreliable to pinpoint where the free space actually is. Due to this change in Windows, Microsoft warns that there is no safe method for wiping just free space.'

 

Can you post a link to this Microsoft warning please.

[Andavari]

9 hours ago, Dan Bee said:

Andavari - Are there any free space wipe tools you can recommend? Have you used CCleaner's?

 

I personally use CCleaner's Wipe Free Space, and Drive Wiper tools, never once had any issues using them and no active needed files being mysteriously nuked by it.

I have used said rubbish ones in the past, maybe 20 years ago.

----------

And as far as IOLO goes, I don't trust them for various reasons; rubbish registry cleaner for umpteen years ago that would nuke the Windows registry, and the very public probable/supposedly theft of an anti-malware vendors signature files.

[Dan Bee]

Hi Andavari,

'Moderators' gave this link above.

https://support.iolo.com/support/solutions/articles/44001869137-does-drivescrubber-wipe-free-space-

Additionally, I have now also found this link :

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/i-am-unable-to-use-the-iolo-drivescrubber-software/9c72ea12-351f-465e-9591-0434ada6be20

It seems from both the above that this issue has not answered favouably.

[nukecad]

I think that old Iolo article has got confused and is wrong, or more likely is deliberate smoke and mirrors exaggerating of what the problem they actually had was.

From the date that it was written I suspect that what they meant to talk about was cleaning of old Windows files following a Windows Update.
That had changed around that time.

Maybe their free space wiper was doing that as part of wiping the drive, which is why they stopped doing it?

CCleaner used to have a option to clear old Windows files following an update, that option was removed from CCleaner at  around that time because of the changes Microsoft made to how Windows Updates work.

See this for more information about that change:

But that has nothing whatsoever to do with wiping free space.
(Unless your wiper app was also deleting those old Windows files at the same time as wiping the free space).

People wipe their free space all the time, I have never heard of anyone, ever, reporting it breaking Windows in any way.

[redwolfe_98]

i would never try wiping free space. i did it once (not with ccleaner) and it trashed my computer.

besides, i don't think that wiping free space is necessary when using SSDs.

[Andavari]

On 16/11/2023 at 15:16, redwolfe_98 said:

besides, i don't think that wiping free space is necessary when using SSDs.

The only time that would be necessary is when retiring an SSD to either stop using it when upgrading to a newer faster SSD, retiring an old SSD altogether since it's nearly out of life/reliability based on S.M.A.R.T. analysis, or to repurpose an old SSD with some life remaining for another system. Such as an old system could for example still greatly benefit from even a old now considered very slow SATA2 3 GB/s SSD. The wiping sanitation would be done with the official SSD manufacturer toolbox to wipe the drive clean - not with 3rd party cleaning tools.

[Dan Bee]

Thanks to all for helping me learn more about this. All your inputs have been much a[[reciated. I think that, on balance, I will trust Ccleaner's free space wiper as I can't see that anyone has had a problem with this version, but ensure I take a disk backup before doing it. A special thanks to Nukecad for your very detailed input.

Wishing you all a great Xmas and hope you don't catch any viruses (Covid or otherwise).