Is it possible to...

Over a period of time, our various pc's build up a large amount of customer data. We are using Dell and Acer Pc's with XP. As a general rule this is no big deal. But lately we have been wondering if there is a way to wipe, shread, some how make uncoverable everything that is no longer indexed on our discs. Currently we are simply deleting files no longer in use but we understand those can still be recovered. We've briefly looked into this field and if we properly understand what we are reading it appears as if only single file shredders or complete disc wipers are available. In this overly litigation happy world, a single file shredder leaves room for argument. We would like to be able to say, "on this date everything not indexed was wiped, no files were missed, overlooked, or left behind intact for any reason." Hopefully this would severly reduce the room for argument. At this time, this interest is more paranoid curiousity then dire need, but if something dependable were available, we would definitely be interested. Would anyone know if anything like this exists? Would appreciate any ideas, comments, or suggestions anyone would wish to share on this subject. Thanks, K.

 

At work, when we retire a PC, we wipe the drive either with DBAN:

http://majorgeeks.com/Dariks_Boot_and_Nuke_d4596.html

Or another tool that we paid for that actually/supposedly does a better job.

Also, this may be what you want to look at, if you are not wanting to completely wipe your drive:

http://majorgeeks.com/Simple_File_Shredder_d4744.html

 

Thank You theefool for considering and responding to my post. At first glance the Simple File Shredder looks to be something that may serve our needs. DBAN may also be an answer to another situ we have been considering for quite some time, donating our replaced equipment. This may provide the avenue to clean out our storeroom. Both may turn out to be exactly what we have been looking for. Appreciate the help. K.

 

I would approach this from an opposing angle and be looking at the most credible DATA retrieval software, for example:

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/oct2000/computer.htm

Then testing the good old "free" CCleaner Fileshredder on the highest settings (apparently 7 wipes at DOF standards).

In other words "reverse engineer" the problem and if you can't do it with the "best freeware tools" you will feel confident!

Expensive software is most often "devoid of fact" and based on a greed based NAIVE marketplace!

 

Thanks Bold Eagle, appreciate the info. Just downloaded Simple File Shredder 3.0 and gave it a looksee. This has turned out to be a valuable learning experience. The download of SFS went along fine, but that was the endpoint of the fine stuff. Even after reading everthing in the help file, I couldn't even figure out where or how to start. On the SFS web page it specified shredding the Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, and Temp files. I couldn't even find those files in my system so even if I had figured out how to make SFS work I wouldn't have been able to try it out. For me, because I have never learned Geekese, instructions that give examples along with Geekese are much more efficient. Considering my apparent level of compuliteracy, it's probably best I didn't figure out how to make SFS work, and what's more, future projects like this would probably be best left to the CompuDoc. Yes, this turned out to be a terribly valuable learning experience. Thanks everyone, appreciate your efforts. K.

 

Another progam I like to ues is eraser which is like the simple file shredder.
http://eraser.heidi.ie/download.php