- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/Vista/NT
- Date added: January 23, 2007
- Total Downloads: 5,417
- Downloads last week: 20
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 3 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET staff on January 05, 2009
There are so many privacy tools available, it's possible to dismiss one just based on an unappealing interface. In the case of Shredder, a free file and folder deletion tool, the design choices are not only questionable, they get in the way of using the program.
The black background is bad, but the green text on top of the black background makes it almost unbearable. The panel-style window displays your folders on the left, the individual files are displayed on the right, and the selected files and folders on the bottom. Blink and you'll miss the nondescript command buttons between the top and bottom panels. To be fair, a rollover on a button displayed a brief description at the bottom of the window. The Help feature also briefly explains each button's function, but that's about it for user guidance. The process for file and folder deletion was fairly standard, though, and Shredder duly removed selected items from test computers.
The program works, but there are plenty of others that offer the same functionality in a more appealing package. If you're not swayed by aesthetics, we also found that the publisher's Web site was no longer available, which may present problems if you need support. All things considered, we'd suggest you pick another tool to remove files and folders.
Publisher's description
From Nikhil Baliga :When a file is deleted, it is not completely removed from the hard disk. So, it is actually possible for somebody to recover these files using file recovery programs. This is a threat if you have some sensitive data that you wish to remove. Shredder is a freeware program using which you can simply select files and shred them. With a very easy-to-use interface, just select the files, and click on shred.
The files once shred, even if recovered will not show the original contents. The main advantage of this program is: It's just 9 kb in size (That's right 9 kb), and no messy forms, just one simple dialog. Attractive Matrix type Green interface. Bug fixes and new features: duplicate entries removal works, duplicate entries get removed automatically during shred or erase, sequences of 0s and 1s get filled in, before use of standard Nikhil Baliga's Shredder algorithm (that was used before), refresh feature has been added, and speed has been increased.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 0 stars Not yet available
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 3 of 3 user reviewsSee all 3 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Shredder 1.0.5
Pros: Small program, visually nice, extremely simple to use, and does not need to be installed. This can be rather useful and advantageous when you are working on a public computer (at school, work, internet cafe, etc.) if you save a file onto the hard drive and want to secure delete it without a program that needs to be installed.
Cons: I didn't see any references to the number of passes used to overwrite existing data.
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Version: Shredder 1.0.5
"Not the program I was looking for....."
Pros: This is great if you already know which files you want to shred.
Cons: Can't look over what's on the hard drive to wipe it clean. You can only see current files on your system. Failed to see how this would clean my harddrive before I donate my old PC.
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Version: Shredder 1.0.5
Pros: nothing.
Cons: I didn't like the design of the program or the fact that it didn't really "instal" it was more like click and open to use.
- See all 3 user reviews Write review
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