Wikiposts
Search
Computer/Internet Issues & Troubleshooting Anyone with questions about the terribly complex world of computers or the internet should try here. NOT FOR REPORTING ISSUES WITH PPRuNe FORUMS! Please use the subforum "PPRuNe Problems or Queries."

Secure Wipe and Delete

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 27th Feb 2008, 13:21
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: BRISTOL!
Age: 39
Posts: 526
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Secure Wipe and Delete

Hey...

I lost some data recently, and found some software that got it all back, even stuff i deleted some time ago...

Out of curiosity, i scanned a machine that i am selling on EBay, and it has recovered every partition i have ever made, 90% are useless as i must have gone over them, but 5 or 6 partitions from the past have my data on, inc bank and passwords and company (IP)...

I was thinking, I have wiped windows XP, deleted all partitions and created them again, went for the long format and not quick, i thought there would never be much data left, how wrong hey.

So anyone know of Free or Paid tools that are good at getting rid of data for good?

Thanks...
planecrazy.eu is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 14:58
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: The Land of Beer and Chocolate
Age: 56
Posts: 798
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
http://www.download.com/Digital-File...html?tag=lst-4

seems to be rated highly

and I have used http://www.evidence-eliminator.com/ in the past which did do what it says....
hellsbrink is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 15:02
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Sussex
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Tuneup utilities in amongst all it's tools includes a shredder for your waste bin. It shreds to DOD 5220.22 standard which is the American Department of Defense standard. You can choose how many wipes it does. I believe nothing gets left behind. Also totally free up the space used by the deleted files.
Mr Grumps is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 15:34
  #4 (permalink)  
PersonalTitle to help support PPRuNe against legal bullying.
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: France
Posts: 134
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Or SDelete free from

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb897443.aspx

works to same standard.
tallsandwich is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 16:49
  #5 (permalink)  
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Twickenham, home of rugby
Posts: 7,398
Received 265 Likes on 173 Posts
I use DBAN.

SD
Saab Dastard is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 16:53
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany
Age: 74
Posts: 883
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I use ERASER. Seems to work very well and is free. Wipes to DOD standards.

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
S'land is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 17:01
  #7 (permalink)  
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Twickenham, home of rugby
Posts: 7,398
Received 265 Likes on 173 Posts
Interesting, I should have noted that there are (at least) two distinct categories of utility being discussed here -

File Shredder - to securely erase files and folders within an existing drive, without affecting the rest of the disk / partition.

Disk Wiping - to securely wipe the entire contents of a physical disk or partition.

Make sure you choose the right one!

SD
Saab Dastard is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 20:13
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: South East England
Posts: 307
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I've never used this utility, but it might be what you are looking for.

Darik's Boot and Nuke

http://dban.sourceforge.net/
None of the above is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 21:04
  #9 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: BRISTOL!
Age: 39
Posts: 526
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks for all that...

I have wiped the drive, and all is looking well... So thanks...

As SD said, there are 2 catagories here, and the other one, File Shredding i am going to be using on a daily basis to delete my files once finished with...

Going off in a different direction a little...

If i had a database of data, and deleted say 100 entries, can i get these entries back? and if so, are there tools out there that can delete such an instance, or am i asking too much? or does the database get rid of the entries good enough on its own.

I am talking about MYSQL and Access...

Thanks
planecrazy.eu is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 21:31
  #10 (permalink)  
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Twickenham, home of rugby
Posts: 7,398
Received 265 Likes on 173 Posts
If you have a recent valid backup, you may be able to recover the deleted data from that.

Obviously you would need to do it in such a way that you didn't roll back all changes to the database since the backup!

SD
Saab Dastard is offline  
Old 27th Feb 2008, 22:06
  #11 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Wellington,NZ
Age: 66
Posts: 1,678
Received 10 Likes on 4 Posts
As you've realized, "deleting" a file only removes the header. The file is still there, able to be recovered until overwritten by fresh data, and sometime recoverable (eg by computer forensics type programs) after overwriting.
This one seems to do a good job of file recovery.
Tarq57 is offline  
Old 28th Feb 2008, 16:26
  #12 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: BRISTOL!
Age: 39
Posts: 526
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What one is that? Just takes me back here?

I have noticed that the file still remains...

My question was, when i delete records from a database, are they still recoverable, and if so, how can i make them unrecoverable? Talking about records and not the complete db
planecrazy.eu is offline  
Old 28th Feb 2008, 19:34
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Wellington,NZ
Age: 66
Posts: 1,678
Received 10 Likes on 4 Posts
Sorry, I meant this one.
(C/P the wrong link.)
This can recover files. And/or view possibly recoverable files. And/or delete possibly recoverable files for good.
For general file erasing (secure overwriting) I use Eraser, linked a few posts above. Very good.
Once you have deleted a file (or folder) using Windows, ie just to remove the header, you have to overwrite the free space, several times to be reasonably sure they aren't recoverable. Eraser (And Restoration, my link) will do that, but you have to erase free space on the entire disk. Takes a while.
Tarq57 is offline  
Old 28th Feb 2008, 22:31
  #14 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 592
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
CCleaner

I use the free CCleaner utility to keep my computers free of unwanted junk. Apart from being a doddle to use and covering all areas of deletion I need, it has file deletion options ranging from fast (a "normal" delete and therefore recoverable) to "Secure", which is slower but done to NSA standard with seven overwrites of the freed-up space.
The late XV105 is offline  
Old 29th Feb 2008, 08:15
  #15 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Wellington,NZ
Age: 66
Posts: 1,678
Received 10 Likes on 4 Posts
I use Ccleaner also. Very handy. But did you ever try using a recovery application to find out if those files were really erased?
I have, and the results were surprising, that is, some were fully recoverable after a so-called NSA 7 pass wipe. I know of one other with the same result.
Posted the question here
Tarq57 is offline  
Old 29th Feb 2008, 10:54
  #16 (permalink)  
ZFT
N4790P
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Asia
Age: 73
Posts: 2,271
Received 25 Likes on 7 Posts
I too use CCleaner and Eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/) for all my deletes.

Seems to work fine.
ZFT is online now  
Old 29th Feb 2008, 13:43
  #17 (permalink)  

Official PPRuNe Chaplain
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Witnesham, Suffolk
Age: 80
Posts: 3,498
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
When I dispose of an old computer, I remove and smash the HD. If I sell the old one and the buyer wants it with a HD, a second-hand HD off eBay for a few quid is the easy fix.
Keef is offline  
Old 29th Feb 2008, 18:59
  #18 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: The Land of Beer and Chocolate
Age: 56
Posts: 798
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
If I dispose of an old PC it normally means that it will never work as a whole and anything that still does work gets kept as "spares".

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why buy a brand new system if all you need is more Ram or a new graphics card? Need more space? Buy an extra drive. No spare IDE/SATA connections? Buy a controller board. No space for that? Buy an external drive.

If you HAVE to have a new PC but the old one is still fine, then you have a second PC to use for backing things up or, if you are in a house like mine with two teens at college, another PC you can use for browsing/documents until it explodes. Makes sense to me.
hellsbrink is offline  
Old 29th Feb 2008, 19:11
  #19 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Between EGAA, EGAC & the wilds of England
Age: 39
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Boot 'n' Nuke is great if you're ditching old systems

If you want something to help with your current PC, PGP Desktop is good. Not only will it do secure (to DOD standard) file deletion but you can also encrypt your disk in there too - as used by big corporates like RBS (believe it or not)
ground_star is offline  
Old 29th Feb 2008, 21:47
  #20 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Redlands
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
To get back on topic

It is almost certain the "deleted" records will still be there, but "flagged" as deleted. That is how all database systems I have used work, and I don't think MYSQL or Access will be any different.
Muffin Themule is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.