Eraser will securely erase selected files and folders, or even whole disks, located on your hard drive (it works with any drive, including IDE, SCSI and RAID, and CD-RWs). Eraser can overwrite the data area with your choice of a variety of random data patterns, and can also wipe data in the paging file, Internet cache, temporary files, Internet cookies, unused disk space, and a number of other places where data can secretly lurk. It can handle FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS partitions. Erasing files with a high level of security will always be a difficult and time consuming task, and absolute 100% safety cannot be guaranteed. However, Eraser makes the task about as easy as it can be, at a security level that exceeds most conceivable requirements.
If Eraser is overkill for your needs, try UltraShredder. In terms of secure deletion, it's not as comprehensive a solution as Eraser, but it's small, much easier to use, and will work from a USB flash drive.
A somewhat different alternative is Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN). It's used to construct a floppy disk or CD that will automatically wipe the hard drives of any PC that's booted from the disk. It's great for bulk disk cleaning of PCs, and is also useful as an emergency tool for quickly removing sensitive information. However, the power of this app makes it a dangerous tool in the hands of beginners.
Product Details
Eraser
Website: http://www.heidi.ie/node/6
Download link: http://www.heidi.ie/node/14
Author: Heidi Computers Ltd.
Version: 5.86a
Date: 01/09/2008
Download file size: 9MB
License: Freeware (GNU)
Operating systems supported: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/20003 Server/XP/Vista/DOS
64 Bit version available: Yes
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
UltraShredder
Website: http://www.xtort.net/xtort-software/ultrashredder/
Download link: http://www.xtort.net/xtort-software/ultrashredder/
Author: xtort.net software
Version: 4.5.4
Date: Unknown
Download file size: 213 KB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/20003 Server/XP/Vista/DOS
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: Yes
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
Darik's Boot and Nuke
Website: http://dban.sourceforge.net/
Download link: http://dban.sourceforge.net/
Author: Techway Services, Inc.
Version: 1.07
Date: 01/09/2008
Download file size: 2 MB
License: Free (Open Source)
Operating systems supported: All Windows/Linux
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No