Secure Delete Files

NOTICE- AS OF JUNE 16, 2015,  this program, in fact, this web site was not available. To erase deleted files beyond recover you can use Recuva, CCleaner, or Eraser.

Recuva can be downloaded from http://goo.gl/5ayYTl

CCleaner can be downloaded from (make sure  you get the free version)  http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Eraser can be downloaded from http://eraser.heidi.ie/

These three programs basically do the same thing as Secure Delete Files did. To find out what Secure Delete Files did,  keep reading.

OK ready class? A review. You all know by now when you delete a file that it’s not really deleted, right? All that happens when you delete a file in Windows is that the space occupied by that file is marked as “available” so the operating system can reuse it. The files you delete are still on your computer, whether you see them or not.

Now you may have nothing to hide, but what about the personal information in emails, documents, financial records, etc. Do you really want someone nosing around in them? If you have sensitive or personal data on your computer perhaps you want to make it much, much harder for someone to recover.

About the only way to really erase a file is to overwrite it a number of times with gibberish so the original file is obfuscated to the point that no one can even tell what it was, let alone what it contains.

Yes there are programs like Eraser, and Windows Cipher which will overwrite the free hard drive space on your computer and make it very difficult for anyone to recover – should someone really care enough to want to recover it.

But Secure Delete Files is a little freeware program that makes it easy to securely delete files with just a right click. And Secure Delete Files obfuscated the deleted file by overwriting it 26 times with gibberish making it very difficult for anyone to recover it. Perhaps the NSA or FBI could, but let’s hope they don’t come sniffing around your PC, OK?

The author is very terse in his description, perhaps he’s a man of few words — unlike yours truly. In any case, he needs to be heard, I tells ya. So hear ye, hear ye, let the author speak:

“Secure Delete Files

Secure Delete is windows explorer menu extension for secure and reliable removing files. Secure Delete adds “Secure Delete” option to the context menu for any file and folder on your Windows PC, letting you securely remove a file with just one click.

Features:

Remove files in one click
Bruce Schneier Algorithm
Renames the file 26 times
Small size & Fast installation
No UI. Just one menu item
No adware. No spyware. Just FREE.
Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista & Windows XP support…”

It’s a snap to use. Just download and install it and it will add an item to your right-click menu “Secure delete”. Right-click on any file or folder and choose “Secure delete” and verify that you really want to delete the file or folder forever, then, depending on the size of the folder or file you’re securely deleting, it will take a few seconds or a few minutes to overwrite the file 26 times with nonsensical gibberish – which is just what you want if you don’t want someone dredging up the file later and reading everything in it.

So, if you have sensitive or personal files or folders on your computer you need to securely delete, the aptly named Secure Delete Files may be just want you’re looking for. Programs sure don’t get any easier to use than this one! Read more about and/or download Secure Delete Files from Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8x, and Windows 10 from  http://windowsuninstaller.com/secure-delete-files/

We tested this program on May 23, 2015 and the file was clean – free from malware or other software. The installation was flawless. The program worked as described and was easy enough for even a computer novice to use. Caution: At the top of the page where you download this file there’s an ad with with a big green download button -do not – repeat – do not click that ad. Instead, about 1/2 down the page there’s a small red download button – and that’s the one you want. Capiche?:

Notes: Oh, in case you’re curious as to what the heck the Bruce Schneier Algorithm is, this is for you: “…Erasing a hard drive using the Schneier data sanitization method will prevent all software based file recovery methods from finding information on the drive and is also likely to prevent most hardware based recovery methods from extracting information.

The Schneier method was created by Bruce Schneier and appeared in his book Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C (ISBN 978-0471128458)…”

So now you know!

For those who want details, more about this program:

Secure Delete Files runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8x, Windows 10
both 32-bit and 64-bit versions
What is it? A freeware program to securely delete files and folders.
Download size 464KB