A closer look at East-Tec Eraser 2010
East-Tec Eraser 2010 (v. 9.7) protects your privacy, identity and confidential information while removing all evidence of your computer and online activity. It erases your Internet history, Web pages, pictures, unwanted cookies, chat room conversations, confidential documents you want to get rid of or files deleted in the past.
It supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003, 2000 and NT, and a number of the most used web browsers, mail and chat programs, as well as various other applications.
The installation process is very short and simple. When starting the software for the first time, you are faced with a Quick Start dialog box which you can skip immediately since the options are practically the same as on the welcome screen:
The simplistic look of the program is a treat. Everything you need is just a click on a button away.
I’m going to start by making you notice the slider at the bottom of the window. By moving it you can instantly change the method used to wipe the files – going from left to right, the options go from the fastest and less thorough to the slowest and most rigorous. You can also change the wiping method (and read about what it does) when going through a wiping process:
Next, we have the horizontal buttons. Recycle Bin Files is a shortcut to thoroughly erasing the contents of your Recycle Bin.
Delete Email deletes permanently all those emails you sent into the Trash folder, because even when you delete the contents of that folder, parts of the those emails are still retained on your computer.
Create a wiping schedule with the Scheduler, and wipe thoroughly every fixed and portable drive you want by activating the Entire Drive Wiper – just choose the drive and wipe method, and all data will be overwritten beyond forensic recovery.
The big, vertically positioned buttons let you access the most important functions of this software.
Privacy Guard erases sensitive data from your Windows and Internet activity. It will also let you delete “locked” Windows files that you are not able to access, but it will not erase files that are needed for normal operation.
Highly configurable (if you choose the Advanced mode), it will let you decide which particular information will be wiped from Windows, browsers, applications, P2P software, news and email readers and custom software:
When Privacy Guard has finished deleting all the files you designated for deletion, if you have chosen to delete “locked” Windows files you will be asked to restart your computer.
The Erase Deleted Data feature will remove all the files you ever deleted from your system beyond forensic recovery:
Add Files & Folders lets you add specific files to the deletion list (you cannot drag-and-drop them into the software), and Erase Files & Folders erases them and wipes every trace of them from the computer.
The Options menu lets you configure many things. You can choose to make the software unavailable to anyone who doesn’t know the entry password; determine the allocation of system resources when it comes to the wiping process; import or export erase options; choose wipe and scramble options, data retention, file and folder exclusion policies:
It is also worth to mention that you can run East-Tec Eraser in Stealth mode and set up a “panic” key that will allow you to close all open windows and immediately run it with preselected options with just a combination of keys.
East-Tec Eraser 2010 is an ideal tool for people and businesses that deal with extremely sensitive information on a daily basis. It’s very user friendly – simple, well explained options make it also accessible to less advanced users.
Download a trial version here.