Free File Shredder
Filed under: AntiViruses, Spyware, System Recovery, System Repair
File Shredder is free desktop application for shredding (destroying) unwanted files beyond recovery
With File Shredder you can remove files from your hard drive without fear they could be recovered. There are quite a few software tools today for retrieval of deleted files under Windows OS. Those tools, often referred to as “file recovery” software, are taking advantage of shortcoming of WIndows “delete” command that we all use regularly to delete files.
Actually, the “delete” operation in Windows only removes bits of information from files so they appear deleted in OS. It is easy to retrieve those files using aforementioned specialized file recovery software. In order to remove, or shred files permanently from your system you have to use a program that is capable of rewriting the files with random series of binary data multiple times.
This process is often called shredding. That way, the actual content of the file has been overwritten and the possibilities to recover such a shredded file are mostly theoretical. In File Shredder you can choose between 5 different shredding algorithms, each one gradually stronger than the previous one. It also has integrated Disk Wiper which uses shredding algorithm to wipe unused disk space. More on options of File Shredder check Online Help page. For more comprehensive protection you can download ArchiCrypt Shredder.
It is very powerful commercial application suite which doesn’t stop on shredding utility and is priced incredibly low for what it offers. If you don’t need all the options of ArchiCrypt shredder and prefer separate utilities for important tasks some of best commercial utilities are produced by Blancco. They have really good Data Cleaner for shredding the whole volumes (Hard Disks) and that is something my File Shredder utility is not supposed to do - yet. But the best overall suite of privacy protection tools I’ve stumbled upon is from CyberScrub, they have a rock solid and full featured set of applications including data destruction, evidence cleaner, password manager and antivirus.