PC Power Shredder is software that permanently destroys files, free space, and Recycle Bin contents instead of just deleting them. It ensures that destroyed data cannot be recovered, providing greater security and privacy.
Before shredding any data, it is recommended that the user is sure of the files, folders, etc. that they want to shred. The software comes with many safeguards in place to prevent accidental shredding.
Windows allocates clusters for new files from one end of the disk and moves towards the other end. This means that if a user deletes files near the end of the disk, it might take a long time before those clusters get used again. Shredding the disk's free space ensures that any deleted data stored in unallocated clusters will be completely shredded, and all the bits and pieces of leftover data from deleted files will be destroyed.
Generally, Windows stores files using two steps: a directory entry and a series of one or more clusters on a disk. When a user deletes a file using Windows, the file's data does not get deleted from the disk. Windows only marks the file's clusters as available for reuse, and marks the file's directory entry as deleted by replacing the first character of the file's name with a special character. If those clusters don't get reused for another file, they are vulnerable and can be retrieved by those who know where and how to look for it.
Adding one byte to the directory entry that was deleted can allow for the complete retrieval of the deleted file. This is used in most "Unerase" utility functions.
However, with PC Power Shredder, retrieving data from a file becomes virtually impossible. The software overwrites the file's data clusters before deleting the file. A "quick" shred overwrites the file once, filling its data clusters with zeroes. A "Thorough" shred overwrites the file up to ten times using varying bit patterns each time.
Overall, PC Power Shredder is an excellent security software that can assure users that their deleted data is safe and cannot be recovered.
Version 2.0.0.3: N/A
Version 2.0.0.2: N/A
Version 2.0.0.1: N/A