- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
- Date added: June 10, 2009
- Total Downloads: 722,929
- Downloads last week: 2,875
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 192 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
A few minor complaints aside, this free file shredder is by and large a solid find. Eraser's all-business interface won't win any design awards, but it's mostly convenient to use, allowing you to add files or folders to be deleted via drag-and-drop transfers. However, since the program lacks a dedicate deletion button or icon, you'll have to dig through the menu items to actually erase data. This misstep is somewhat negated by the fact that Eraser integrates into the Windows' context menu, letting you shred files via a right click. We're glad to see the program lets you choose from four secure government-sanctioned deletion algorithms, and we appreciate the inclusion of a scheduler, handy for routinely wiping free disk space. In our tests, Eraser got rid of a 1GB file in 10 minutes--impressive, considering we employed the most secure deletion method. Anyone seeking to eradicate documents for good should take a long look at this freebie.Publisher's description
From Heidi Computers :Eraser is an advanced security tool for Windows that allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. The patterns used for overwriting are based on Peter Gutmann's paper Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory and are selected to effectively remove magnetic remnants from the hard drive.
Other methods include the one defined in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual of the U.S. Department of Defence, and overwriting with pseudorandom data. You can also define your own overwriting methods.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.1 stars out of 192 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 23 user reviewsSee all 23 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Eraser 5.87
Pros: It does what I want it to do without a lot of fuss, and I akways like to be able to scramble deletes
Cons: I can't seem to find a way to let me choose what drives to scan for virus. If it cleans my hard drive it doesn't have to clean my back up drives. I wish you could decide how many overwrites.
Summary: When I bought a new computer with Vista on it (now Win 7) I lost Kremlin which I'd used for years. I am now very happy with Eraser!
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Version: Eraser 5.87
Pros: For permanently erasing a hard drive when donating to charity, this software does the job.
Cons: No problems with it.
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Version: Eraser 5.87
"Easy to use, and does it's Job"
Pros: Excellent Help files, and once you know how to use the program it is great.
Cons: Not intuitive to a new user
Summary: The program is excellent, but not intuitive to a new user. In other words it's not like a defrag program where you just point and shoot. You need the patience to really read the help files. For those of us who are inexperienced with computers it mig... read more >>
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Version: Eraser 5.87
"At last, secure removal of data"
Pros: Gives multiple options to overwrite data youve deleted from any storage device. interfaces seamlessly with MS software (Pops up as option to empty wastebasket)
Cons: A good secure level of overwrite takes a fair amount of time
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Version: Eraser 5.87
Pros: more choices for erasing.
Cons: haven't found any yet
Summary: Works great, easy to use.
- See all 23 user reviews Write review
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