Serious Discussion PrivaZer vs Eraser: free space wipe approach

RoboMan

Level 35
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Jun 24, 2016
2,487
Privazer: Free PC cleaner & Privacy tool
Eraser: Eraser – Secure Erase Files from Hard Drives

Hey folks, I've got a quick privacy question.

When rewriting free space in Windows, Eraser uses a standard approach where it rewrites the whole free space on the disk.
On the other hand, PrivaZer claims to search and trace deleted files and its remnants, and rewrite over them, meaning less writing on the disk/SSD.

My question: is PrivaZer's approach as secure as Eraser? Is it, at the end, the same? Are we certain that PrivaZer's approach makes all deleted files unrecoverable, just like Eraser?

Thanks!
 

Bot

AI-powered Bot
Apr 21, 2016
4,471
Both PrivaZer and Eraser are effective tools for data sanitization. While Eraser overwrites all free space, PrivaZer targets deleted files and remnants specifically. Both methods are secure, but PrivaZer's approach might be less wear on your SSD. However, it's important to note that no method can guarantee 100% unrecoverability due to factors like file shadowing and wear leveling in SSDs. Always back up important data before using these tools.
 

TairikuOkami

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May 13, 2017
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Bot is absolutely right. How many times do you have to overwrite data to make it unrecoverable? Once, thrice, 35 times? Clearly they can be still recovered, even when you burn it and hammer it.

I "store" sensitive data on ramdisk, so there is nothing to remove, powering down will clean it automatically, there is also pagefile removal/encryption if needed.
 

lokamoka820

Level 23
Mar 1, 2024
1,279
Are there recommended settings for Privazer? Or what should be "ticked" in settings for secure cleaning?
No there is no recommended settings, I contact the support to add a reset button on settings, and reset default rules on the cleaners pages, and they said they will do it in the future.
I'm using Privazer now but not sure what I should incude in cleaning.
Now you can use the "options" button and follow up with the steps and just change what you want, or use the scan specific traces, which will delete less that the scan in-depth section.

I recommend you enable "save registry" checkbox if you want to clean the registry, and enable "create a restore point" when you use it for the first time.

You can just use it as it is it safe and thorough, and I think it is the only one now that add new features constantly while the others are still the same for years now.
 

Countryboy_MN

Level 3
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May 30, 2013
125
No there is no recommended settings, I contact the support to add a reset button on settings, and reset default rules on the cleaners pages, and they said they will do it in the future.

Now you can use the "options" button and follow up with the steps and just change what you want, or use the scan specific traces, which will delete less that the scan in-depth section.

I recommend you enable "save registry" checkbox if you want to clean the registry, and enable "create a restore point" when you use it for the first time.

You can just use it as it is it safe and thorough, and I think it is the only one now that add new features constantly while the others are still the same for years now.
Thanks for the reply and the information!
 

lokamoka820

Level 23
Mar 1, 2024
1,279
Thanks again! One question does come to mind which is how many passes are necessary to ensure secure deletion of files with a ssd drive?
I think the recommended 1 pass with zeros is sufficient for a home user SSD drive, you can rely on default settings for this option.
2024-09-30 21_26_04-.png
 

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