Shredding unused space

[UncmlakeleWilley]

Using ASC v5.1 Toolbox File Shredder, is there any way to "shred" unused/available free space?

 

It appears that this tool only shreds space for files/folders that you specify.

[Melvin_Deal]

Hi UncmlakeleWilley.

 

The software you are looking for isn't offered by Iobit. Ccleaner has a disk wipe function in its advanced options. The free version will do. Ccleaner is highly reputable. I highly suggest you not interrupt it if you choose to use it. If you do interrupt you may end up locking a large part of your HD. It will take a long time to run (overnight). It operates by creating a huge file on all the undedicated space on your HD. It then deletes the file so that all information that was in the undedicated space is effectively written over. I suggest you research a little. There are other HD Wipers out there.

 

Sincerely,

-Mel

Live long and prosper!

[solbjerg]

Hi Melvin

Yes the possibility can be found in Ccleaner, - then depending on the amount of free space and the number of overwrites it will take between a couple of hours and a whole day or more.

Ccleaner has 4 possibilities: 1 overwrite, 3 overwrites DOD (Department of Defense), NSA 7 overwrites and the Gutman overwrite 35 times.

So it depends to a very large extent on the amount of free space and which overwrite method you choose.

You can even do it yourself through a command in command prompt by filling up your computer with zeroes and then deleting the file - as many times as you wish.

Another method could be to just install large files until the computer is filled up - and then delete them.

BUT unless you have a specific purpose to do it right now I would just run a chkdsk /r and a defragmentation regulary and be sure to use the shredder on all files you wish to remove all traces of.

After a while most of your empty space will have been overwritten several times quite naturally.

@ UncmlakeleWilley

What is the size of your disk and the amount of free space?

Remember to choose the disk in question carefully - one at a time.

AND as Melvin says: DON'T INTERFERE with the proces and HOPE that you won't suffer a powerloss during the empty space shredding operation.

Cheers

solbjerg

 

 

 

The software you are looking for isn't offered by Iobit. Ccleaner has a disk wipe function in its advanced options. The free version will do. Ccleaner is highly reputable. I highly suggest you not interrupt it if you choose to use it. If you do interrupt you may end up locking a large part of your HD. It will take a long time to run (overnight). It operates by creating a huge file on all the undedicated space on your HD. It then deletes the file so that all information that was in the undedicated space is effectively written over. I suggest you research a little. There are other HD Wipers out there.

 

Sincerely,

-Mel

Live long and prosper!

[Melvin_Deal]

Hi Solbjerg!

 

Agreed...

 

BUT unless you have a specific purpose to do it right now I would just run a chkdsk /r and a defragmentation regulary and be sure to use the shredder on all files you wish to remove all traces of.

After a while most of your empty space will have been overwritten several times quite naturally.

 

I can see no practical use for such an application unless you have purchased a used hard drive or PC and wish to insure that there are no traces of illegal activity on it. In the USA, possession equals ownership in the eyes of the authorities, and there have been cases where individuals have been held accountable for information they didn't know they had.. (Other practical use would be if you have engaged in illegal activity and wish to destroy evidence.)

 

Sincerely,

-Mel

Live long and prosper!

[solbjerg]

Hi Melvin

Yes, but in the case of buying a used computer I would prefer to format it completely before taking it into use.

 

The shredding - if one has a very large computer and very much free space and chooses the Gutman method, the cleaning may take a couple of full days, and the danger of having a powerloss during that time will raise proportionally, and if you are really unlucky you may end up with a lot of empty space you can't use anymore.

Cheers

solbjerg

 

 

Agreed...

 

 

 

I can see no practical use for such an application unless you have purchased a used hard drive or PC and wish to insure that there are no traces of illegal activity on it. In the USA, possession equals ownership in the eyes of the authorities, and there have been cases where individuals have been held accountable for information they didn't know they had.. (Other practical use would be if you have engaged in illegal activity and wish to destroy evidence.)

 

Sincerely,

-Mel

Live long and prosper!

[Mr Bean]

hi all

If I may add to this?

 

I am not a fan of shredding...but have a friend who says its a must...

the only time I would consider it IF, I sold a system hard drive or PC .not LIKELY but if I did...

if like our poster insists doing So may I also add Please be careful follow the advice already posted..

 

I remember a long time ago did it once,never again, I cant remember what went wrong

only it stuffed the drive(my own Fault) generally, a good old format 2 times to be sure is plenty,and the install ,then default the,drive to be able to use it..EMPTY ...or just install the boot-table..

shredding verses formating id the question..unless one is a rocked cine test then perhaps you may want to do this..but for a normal user like us all well could be risky?

I seem to remember talking about this and was told Simula that it would be safe Enoch..use a program like iobit defrag that would cover slack space overwriting them.and clear the rest?

as the question is shredding unused space...why ???

I would be inclined to just use DEFRAG...???

 

Mr Bean

[enoskype]

Hi guys, there is only one occasion that I use CCleaner's wiping rarely and specially on XP.

It is for the wiping of MFT Free space (including MFT Zone).

 

By default, 12.5% of all drive space is spared for MFT Zone in XP and it is most of the time too much space not used unless the rest of the drive is full. You can increase the size, but you can not decrease it.

 

If MFT is fragmented, I prefere to wipe, including that specific space before defragmenting MFT.

 

It is just a minor trick with minimum positive performance effect though. Well, in case if you have an obsession about the distribution of files on the disk and want the disk surface (clusters) to be used a bit more evenly!!! :-P:-P

 

Cheers.

[solbjerg]

hi enoskype

Interesting - I suppose you use 1 overwrite?

How long does it take - and how much free space does it have to go through?

Do you see any measurable effect at all?

I haven't tried the Ccleaner empty space shredding - I tried overwriting once by using the Command Prompt approach many years ago - and only 1 overwrite. Just to check out if I could.

Cheers

solbjerg

 

 

Hi guys, there is only one occasion that I use CCleaner's wiping rarely and specially on XP.

It is for the wiping of MFT Free space (including MFT Zone).

 

By default, 12.5% of all drive space is spared for MFT Zone in XP and it is most of the time too much space not used unless the rest of the drive is full.

 

If MFT is fragmented, I prefere to wipe, including that specific space before defragmenting MFT.

 

It is just a minor trick with minimum positive performance effect though. Well, in case if you have an obsession about the distribution of files on the disk and want the disk surface (clusters) to be used a bit more evenly!!! :-P:-P

 

Cheers.

[enoskype]

Hi solbjerg,

 

As you may know there are 2 different locations in CCleaner program for wiping the disks,

- one in Tools button=>Drive Wiper=>tick checkbox of Drives=>click Wipe

and,

- the second one, Options button=>Settings=>Wipe Free Space drives=>tick checkbox Wipe MFT Free Space =>=>=>

=>=>=> Cleaner button=>Advanced=>tick checkbox Wipe Free Space=>click Run Cleaner (After noting is left for normal cleaning.)

 

I use the second one:

Normal file deletion (Faster), takes about 1+ hours for 30-40 GB free space including MFT Zone (with 1.66 GHz Centrino single coreCPU -speed, 7500rpm Seagate ). The measurable (not exactly) effect is because of the defragmentation and the files placement, I think.

I don't think wiping of free space will have a measurable effect on performance.

 

The problem is, if I use PD (Perfrect Disk) and not Smart, Ultimate or Puran Defrag, the MFT zone is automatically created. :-(

 

I have to repeat that, this is all for XP.

 

Cheers.

[solbjerg]

Hi enoskype

Thank you!!

It has apparently been too long since I checked the settings in the program. Sorry - and thanks to you.

Cheers

solbjerg

 

 

Hi solbjerg,

 

As you may know there are 2 different locations in CCleaner program for wiping the disks,

- one in Tools button=>Drive Wiper=>tick checkbox of Drives=>click Wipe

and,

- the second one, Options button=>Settings=>Wipe Free Space drives=>tick checkbox Wipe MFT Free Space =>=>=>

=>=>=> Cleaner button=>Advanced=>tick checkbox Wipe Free Space=>click Run Cleaner (After noting is left for normal cleaning.)

 

I use the second one:

Normal file deletion (Faster), takes about 1+ hours for 30-40 GB free space including MFT Zone (with 1.66 GHz Centrino single coreCPU -speed, 7500rpm Seagate ). The measurable (not exactly) effect is because of the defragmentation and the files placement, I think.

I don't think wiping of free space will have a measurable effect on performance.

 

The problem is, if I use PD (Perfrect Disk) and not Smart, Ultimate or Puran Defrag, the MFT zone is automatically created. :-(

 

I have to repeat that, this is all for XP.

 

Cheers.

[Melvin_Deal]

Thank you for that Enoskype... very informative!:mrgreen:

 

Sincerely,

-Mel

Live long and prosper!

[WriterJC]

Shredding unused space

 

Enoskype, I do the same on XP, but I did have laugh about "if you have an obsession about the distribution of files on the disk and want the disk surface (clusters) to be used a bit more evenly!!!"

 

I thought wiping the space clean WAS to keep the distribution of files/disk clusters more compact ... as a matter of good organization and minimizing the risk of the MFT thing, not obcession! :smile:

 

Ccleaner is the most effective tool I've found, and agree to leave it alone once it's executed until it's completed. It works like a charm. It also helps to have a stealth surge protector for any blips in the electricity overnight.

 

The only time using Gutman would be necessary is for anything still under stamp ... or for something incriminating that spoke to illegal activity. For a used computer, re-formatting the H-D is much easier ... and wipe the space later. :lol:

 

 

Hi guys, there is only one occasion that I use CCleaner's wiping rarely and specially on XP. It is for the wiping of MFT Free space (including MFT Zone).

 

By default, 12.5% of all drive space is spared for MFT Zone in XP and it is most of the time too much space not used unless the rest of the drive is full. You can increase the size, but you can not decrease it.

 

If MFT is fragmented, I prefere to wipe, including that specific space before defragmenting MFT.

 

It is just a minor trick with minimum positive performance effect though. Well, in case if you have an obsession about the distribution of files on the disk and want the disk surface (clusters) to be used a bit more evenly!!! :-P:-P

 

Cheers.

[enoskype]

Hi WriterJC,

 

You are right that wiping the space clean is to keep the distribution of files/disk clusters more compact, but doing it considering MFT placement to my standard is obsession, even on the compulsive side, which I think I have :razz::lol::lol:. (see Think about Defragmentation!!! thread.)

 

Cheers.:wink: