Free software to wipe a hard disk is nothing new. Personally there isn't a lot on my hard disk that would require Department of Defence level privacy, but as with most software it really does come down to personal choice (or how badly you need to CYA). I guess if some secret agency became aware of my plans for world domination - they would probably steal my computer before I had decided to erase everything and throw the hard drive into an active volcano.

Normally this would be a disastrous bug or defect, but in this case wiping your hard drive beyond all hope of recovery is actually the intended outcome.

Here are some other Free programs that will help you kiss your data bye-bye.

Some may say Paragons 84.1 MB is a bit bloated and overweight for what should be a simple and lightweight program.

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File & Free Space Wipers
(Good for wiping data/files or "clear space" on a hard disk partition while leaving other data/files on the drive/partition untouched)

1. Disk Redactor (383 KB)
http://www.cezeo.com/products/disk-redactor/

2. Eraser (9.3 MB)
http://eraser.heidi.ie/

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Wipe entire drives & partitions
(Typical use - before disposal of a drive to ensure there is no recoverable data left on the drive).

1. Disk Wipe (1.04 MB)
http://www.diskwipe.org/

2. Active@ Kill Disk (4.24 MB CD ISO)
http://www.killdisk.com/

3. DBAN (5.5 MB)
http://www.dban.org/

BuBBy  –  16 years ago  –  Комментарий оказался полезным? да | нет (+126)

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The Good
* Straightforward and fairly easy to use.
* Can wipe whole disks or select partitions.
* Can wipe internal or external hard drives.
* Can wipe unused space.
* Allows user to define custom wipe algorithm.
* Allows user to create a bootable CD/DVD or bootable USB/flash drive to use Disk Wiper without having to load into Windows.
* Comes with basic partition management tools.

The Bad
* Refuses to wipe my USB/flash drive.
* You are limited to using either Paragon's secure wiping algorithm, or defining your own - you have no other choices to use other popular and time tested algorithms.
* When selecting what hard drive or partition to wipe, if you want to select a partition and the partition size is small seeing what partition it is is very difficult.

Free Alternatives
East-Tec Eraser 2008

For final verdict, recommendations, and full review please click here.

Ashraf  –  16 years ago  –  Комментарий оказался полезным? да | нет (+81)

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Some flash disks don't have MBR entry, and Disk Wiper can work only with disks having MBR.
The solution is very simple: use Disk Wiper's feature "Update MBR" on flash disk, it will write standard code to MBR. Now Disk Wiper can wipe this flash drive.

kiwi  –  16 years ago  –  Комментарий оказался полезным? да | нет (+54)

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PROS:

* Successful download/installation/activation/registration on Vista Home Premium x64 SP2 OS (be sure to use GOTD 64-bit download link).
* Improved 64-support: No need to do manual re-boot for operations that don't complete. Program will auto re-boot to special mode to finish operation.
* Smooth program access without needing to use Admin Mode.
* Pleasant, simple-to-understand, easy-to-navigate GUI.
* Help Guidance located within program.
* Provides support for GUID partition table.
* Provides support for latest linux kernel.
* Provides integratioon of linux/DOS wiping media directly to installation package.
* Smooth, easy, quick, successful program operation.
* Provides context menu hint system for all program functions.
* Provides "save to scheduler" feature.
* Provides "check recovery disc" feature.
* Provides "virtual mode" operation to allow for rollback of select or all process changes.
* allows user to enable 64 KB clusters for FAT16
* allows user to ask for volume label before doing partition deletee.
* allows user to ask for confirmation before converting from FAT16 to FAT32.
* provides detailed explanation of wipe-method algorithm.
* allows user to enable data loss protection in case of system crash.

CONS:

* User must go to developer website to manually ask for serial number (via completing name & e-mail information) to get registration codes.
* Installation process is not as straightforward as it could be. The intial setup.exe executable installs the actual installer onto the user's "C" Drive. User must then find/access the installer to complete installation process.
* Program's process options and choices can be a bit overwhelming for first-time (novice) users.
* No technical support contact information located within program.

SUMMARY: - Program efficiently and successfull does what it says it will do. Definite keeper for me. Thanks, GOTD and Paragon.

100% Freeware Option:

Eraser

Happy Person  –  16 years ago  –  Комментарий оказался полезным? да | нет (+40)

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http://www.paragon-software.com/registration/dw2010pers.html

You can grab your reg key from the above link, and install the program later if you want.

PESfan  –  16 years ago  –  Комментарий оказался полезным? да | нет (+25)

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