Delete a file and it's gone.... or is it? (CyberScrub)

Member Name: lordpercy

Product:	CyberScrub
Date:	23/10/00 (1034 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clears web clutter, insures privacy

Disadvantages: At present you have to buy from the USA

You wouldn’t leave your bank statements and personal correspondence intact in your rubbish bin would you?

You wouldn’t leave personal items around the house while someone came to repair the TV would you?

But you probably leave information and items just as sensitive sat on your PC without even realising it!

Of course you delete files once you no longer need them and you may consider yourself fairly IT literate and delete your temporary internet files and cookies, but do you realise they are still there.

When windows deletes a file it merely changes the filename and places a question mark in front of the original name, this hides the file from view and it will remain on your hard drive until some other information is saved over it.

Well my hard disk is 20 Gigabytes and there are areas that I will probably never re write in the course of normal web surfing or word-processing, so these areas are easily read with software available in your high street shop.

This software is included in packages like Norton utilities its normally called un delete or something similar and with it you can get back erased files, sometimes even after you have written over them.

So how can you make sure what you delete is really gone?

Well I have just finished a free 30-day evaluation of "CyberScrub" a product that claims to permanently erase files from your disk and also remove those stubborn cookies and temp Internet files.

The download size is a relatively small 1.69mb which should take about 4 – 8mins to download depending on your connection speed, it is a simple one click install then you are ready to use CyberScrub.

The user interface is excellent with simple icons giving you two main choices.

1. Protect my privacy

This removes cookies, temp Internet files, swap files and temporary system files some of which you would be unable to remove manually as win
dows locks them during the start-up sequence.

It can also remove file slack, this is where windows packs files with other data to make them add up to nice round numbers, a bit like putting packing foam around an article so its easier to carry.

The only problem is that windows uses data from anywhere on the disk that takes its fancy and that could be the email from your boss or the details of your mortgage, CyberScrub replaces the slack with truly random data leaving the file safe and intact.

2. Clean my disk

This writes random data over the unused section of your disk thus covering any files that windows has marked for deletion, it has varying levels of security from a single pass which takes minutes to the "Gutmann level"

This is the most secure wiping method I have encountered it makes 35 passes of random letters and numbers which stops any known form of recovery, the downside is it took 16 hours to do 17gb on my disk.

Now your thinking this is way over the top and yes it is but CyberScrub is far more useful at the lower security levels to remove internet clutter and clean you disk.

After the 30 day trial I have now gone back to manually deleting history, cookies and temp internet data and it’s a real pain.

During the 30 days CyberScrub kept my machine clean and tidy did not effect any other programmes and then at the end of the trial it uninstalled completely.

I am not keeping world secrets on my PC but I don’t like the thought of some teenage assistant in PC world leafing through my Internet history or deleted files any more than I want to find the dustman reading my mail.

CyberScrub allows me to protect my privacy and also saves me time and effort when removing files and removing the general clutter left by surfing the World Wide Web.

Once the trial period is up it’s time to buy, CyberScrub comes in 4 possible flavours the first two ar
e cheap but do not do the useful functions, a fully enabled copy costs $39.95 and can be purchased online or by phone or fax.

I am about to purchase and will keep you updated here with my experience and subsequent use of CyberScrub.

Runs on Windows 2000, NT, Windows 98 and 95
Download size 1.69mb
www.cyberscrub.com
Basic Edition................ $19.95
Standard Edition............. $29.95
Professional Edition......... $39.95

Summary: