What happens to the deleted data when you run "Cleaner"

[tdl]

Hi,

 

Please advice me on the following questions.

• When I run "Cleaner" is the deleted data over written? If so how many times?
  
• Does it more securely clean data if I use "clear free space on drive" in tools after running "Cleaner"?
  
• In other words please tell me how to use CCleaner to do the most effective job of cleaning my hardrive of sensitive in formation
  

Hope you can help

[Derek891]

Hello tdl

 

There are two options to wipe your drive using CCleaner. The first is as you describe, run CCleaner to delete the files, then go to "Tools" and select "Drive Wiper". Here you can select the partitions you want to wipe, then select how many passes you want to make. Be sure you have Free Space Only selected before you begin.

 

The second way is to wipe the drive as you clean it. Go to "Options", then "Settings". Here you can select between Normal deletion (the default) and Secure deletion (slower). Again, you can select how many passes you want to make.

 

Just be aware of one thing: Wiping a drive is a very slow process, made even slower by the number of passes you choose to make, as well as the size of the drive itself. A very large drive can take what seems forever. So here's a tip: Use CCleaner to clean the drive first. Then run a defragmenter, either the Windows version or Defraggler. (If you use Defraggler, make sure that you DO NOT have the "move large files to the end of the drive" option selected!) Then use the Windows Partition Manager to shrink your partition as far as it allows. Then use the drive wiper of CCleaner to wipe the partition. When this is done, you can then resize the partition to whatever size you wish. This way you will only be wiping the portion of the drive that actually contains your data, and not the portion of the drive that is empty to begin with. I hope this helps you out.

[Andavari]

You can familiarize yourself with CCleaner and other Piriform software by looking at the documentation site:

http://www.piriform.com/docs

[tdl]

Thank you both. I appreciate the help

TDL