Eraser is a Windows tool that allows you to securely remove files from your computers hard drive and securely wipe free space so as to remove the residual data of previously deleted files by overwriting with specially selected wiping paterns.
Eraser currently works with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Windows 2003 Server and DOS and supports FAT and NTFS formatted IDE/SATA/SCSI hard drives. Support for Vista was introduced in 5.83beta.
The software supports the scheduled wiping of files via its Scheduler console as well as on demand file wiping which can be done via an Explorer context menu or dragging files to the Eraser application. It can attempt to wipe locked files (e.g. index.dat files) after the next reboot by forcing a wipe before Windows takes control again.
Methodology
Eraser overwrites the filename for each deleted file with zeros up to the maximum filename length.
Supported wiping patterns include
| Erase File | Erase Free Space |
|---|---|
| Gutmann | Gutmann |
| US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306 /E, C and E) | US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306 /E, C and E) |
| US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306 /E) | US DoD 5220.22-M (8-306 /E) |
| Pseudorandom Data | Pseudorandom Data |
| First and Last 2kb | - |
| Schneier's 7 Pass | Schneier's 7 Pass |
Authors
Eraser was originally developed by Sami Tolvanen and now maintained by Garrett Trant of Heidi Computers Ltd.