Hello,

Does anybody know of a utility that will wipe unused sectors on the hard
drive? My old Norton utilities won't run on WinXP.

Is there something that comes with WinXP that can do it - like after defrag
possibly?

Or some inexpensive or free download that can do it ?

Or even a program that runs from a boot disk?

TIA Bill S.

"Emerald Saint" <xp.student@comcast.net> wrote in
news:efmdnTbhR8pl5eDVnZ2dnUVZ_jCdnZ2d@comcast.com:

> Does anybody know of a utility that will wipe unused sectors on
> the hard drive? My old Norton utilities won't run on WinXP.
>
>

"Eraser" will do this and it is free.

<http://sourceforge.net/projects/eraser>

HTH,
John

I've used this on occasion, and my wife's used it for years for her business
systems. Seems decent enough. Trial version is good for 30 days.
http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consume...61f5e6 366587

TinyURL = http://tinyurl.com/68uqqz

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Emerald Saint" <xp.student@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:efmdnTbhR8pl5eDVnZ2dnUVZ_jCdnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> Hello,
>
> Does anybody know of a utility that will wipe unused sectors on the hard
> drive? My old Norton utilities won't run on WinXP.
>
> Is there something that comes with WinXP that can do it - like after
> defrag possibly?
>
> Or some inexpensive or free download that can do it ?
>
> Or even a program that runs from a boot disk?
>
> TIA Bill S.
>
>
>
>

Be sure to check in Options for "Bleach" settings and include "Slack space"
in the wipe. For more info, check its Help file.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
news:ueOddcw5IHA.1176@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> I've used this on occasion, and my wife's used it for years for her
> business systems. Seems decent enough. Trial version is good for 30 days.
> http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consume...61f5e6 366587
>
> TinyURL = http://tinyurl.com/68uqqz
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://grystmill.com
>
> "Emerald Saint" <xp.student@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:efmdnTbhR8pl5eDVnZ2dnUVZ_jCdnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>> Hello,
>>
>> Does anybody know of a utility that will wipe unused sectors on the hard
>> drive? My old Norton utilities won't run on WinXP.
>>
>> Is there something that comes with WinXP that can do it - like after
>> defrag possibly?
>>
>> Or some inexpensive or free download that can do it ?
>>
>> Or even a program that runs from a boot disk?
>>
>> TIA Bill S.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Curious if you know if Erase deals with slack space? Seems like wipe
utilities are easy to come by, but ones that also clean slack space aren't
as easily located.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"John Wunderlich" <jwunderlich@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9ADCE39F098ADwunderpsdrscray@207.46.248.16 ...
> "Emerald Saint" <xp.student@comcast.net> wrote in
> news:efmdnTbhR8pl5eDVnZ2dnUVZ_jCdnZ2d@comcast.com:
>
>> Does anybody know of a utility that will wipe unused sectors on
>> the hard drive? My old Norton utilities won't run on WinXP.
>>
>>
>
> "Eraser" will do this and it is free.
>
> <http://sourceforge.net/projects/eraser>
>
> HTH,
> John

"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in
news:uJ7C3gw5IHA.3784@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl:

> Curious if you know if Erase deals with slack space? Seems like
> wipe utilities are easy to come by, but ones that also clean slack
> space aren't as easily located.
>

Yes it does handle Slack space. It calls it "Cluster Tip Area" (same
thing). It also has the option to erase "Alternate Data Streams" on
NTFS file systems.
A very good program. Read the Help file that comes with it.

HTH,
John

I'll give it a try. I don't really feel like leaving Window Washer on this
machine, but I had to see what it looked like these days before passing it
on..

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"John Wunderlich" <jwunderlich@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9ADCF157D8DFBwunderpsdrscray@207.46.248.16 ...
> "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in
> news:uJ7C3gw5IHA.3784@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl:
>
>> Curious if you know if Erase deals with slack space? Seems like
>> wipe utilities are easy to come by, but ones that also clean slack
>> space aren't as easily located.
>>
>
> Yes it does handle Slack space. It calls it "Cluster Tip Area" (same
> thing). It also has the option to erase "Alternate Data Streams" on
> NTFS file systems.
> A very good program. Read the Help file that comes with it.
>
> HTH,
> John