cowpoke

Thanks, and I undestand the gist of all you said. I did know what/how defrag worked, I guess what was getting at was this. Defrag may place a file over a "deleted" non wiped file, then for all intents it's erased covered I guess, just as it would be if it just happend to randomly get covered by a new file. So, when a file gets tagged as erased (but is still there) then copied over by a new file, can the old one get retrieved ?? Also, not quite sure of the mechanics of a swipe in that one might not work or be sufficient.... and then I see there is an option for 37 swipes.....

So the wiper is more for security and privacy as opposed to performance, i.e., wiping won't help or speed up the system ?

Defrag, I was just wondering if there were similarities, i.e., defrag will re sort the drive space, so in some sense it might be doing a simiar thing.... Also, is the wiper safe ? any issues ?

Thanks I understand the concept. What are some of the distinctions between lets say defrag... Also, what are the nuances of the 1, 2, 3 passes ? Thanks again;

Hello, this is my 1st post, so I'm not sure if this is the correct place. Could you tell about the Drive wiper, and the variations of preverences for it. Free space, 1 pass ,3 passes ..... I assume this is similar to a Format drive. Thanks