Secure Data Erasers for Windows and Macs

The ACCC has site-licenses for two software titles that you might be interested in: Active@ Eraser and SuperScrubber. Both are available only to faculty and staff , though the University of Illinois Webstore. Both are secure file erasers. "Secure file erasers" are utilities that erase files -- whole disks only, in the case of SuperScrubber -- in such a way that it is impossible to get the data back. Normal file erase methods can usually be reversed.

Use an eraser when you give away or sell a PC or a Mac. You not only want to permanently get rid of your data files, but you also have to get rid of any software that you are going to be using on your new machine. Software licenses almost always only apply to one machine. You need to do this even if you bought an upgrade of the software for your new machine. Once you buy an upgrade, you've forfeited your license to the previous version. (You can reinstall the OS after you wipe your old machine. The OS most likely does belong to the machine.)

Disposing of a UIC Computer

Even if you didn't want to, if it's a UIC computer, you must. You cannot legally re-distribute a UIC computer without properly erasing the hard disk. It's state law.

See University Guidelines on the Sale, Donation, or Transfer of Computer Hard Drives and Other Magnetic Media. It lists the necessary procedures.

Active@ Eraser

You can use Active@ Eraser for Windows-based machines or disk-bootable personal computers. In addition to being a disk wiper and hard disk eraser, for Windows machines Active@ Eraser is an Internet and local activities cleaner and secure file eraser. When you delete a file in Windows, it does not actually erase your data, it just deletes the pointer to your data. This can be a good thing, because it allows you to get data back you erased by accident, but it can also be a bad thing, because it also allows other people to get your data back. Active@ Eraser completely destroys all the data that you want destroyed. You can also use Active@ Eraser to erase the tracks of your Internet and local actions on your PC, so that no one else can see where you've been or what you've been doing.

For more information, see http://www.active-eraser.com/

SupperScrubber

SuperScrubber is a disk utility that serves to completely and permanently erase all data from a specified internal or external hard drive or partition on Apple Mac G3s, G4s, and G5s (the actual types of Macs included are listed on the SupperScrubber Web site), leaving no retrievable trace of the old data.

For more information, see http://www.jiiva.com/superscrubber/information/

If you have an older Mac that doesn't support SupperScrubber, you can use Apple's Disk Setup Utility. It is on your Mac OS 8/9 installer CD. It can zero-overwrite every byte of data on the drive if you run it ten times. The only problem is that the procedure is likely to take a long time (where "long" = "several hours").