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DESCRIPTION
Permanent Eraser... When you normally delete your files in Mac OS X, the operating system is only forgetting where those particular files are placed, while the data still physically remains on the drive. Beginning with Mac OS 10.3, Apple enhanced its security by introducing the Secure Empty Trash feature, which follows the U.S. DoD pattern of overwriting data seven times.
Permanent Eraser provides an even stronger level of security by implementing the Gutmann Method. This utility overwrites your data thirty-five times, scrambles the original file name, and truncates the file size to nothing before Permanent Eraser finally unlinks it from the system. Once your data has been erased, it can no longer be read through traditional means.
- Implements the Gutmann Method via srm to remove files
- Erases the files in your Trash
- Erases CD-RWs and DVD-RWs
- Erases files dropped on the application icon
- Provides a warning dialog before files are erased (Press the Option key to bypass this warning).
- Universal Binary
- Localized for English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Swedish, and Traditional Chinese
WHAT'S NEW
Version 2.4:
- Redesigned interface, which displays amount of data being erased.
- Added "Do not show this message again" option in the alert dialog.
- Significant portions of the program have been re-engineered.
- Updated icons, tailored for Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6.
- Tested and updated for Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard.
REQUIREMENTS
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.
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| Permanent Eraser User Reviews (24 posts) | Write A Review |
 | Jan 5 2009 |
XPIAXPIAX hey guys. i'm new to the mac stuff, and i came across the Permanent Eraser application and am wondering what the heck "re-write 35 times" means.... what is this whole "re-writing" business? does this take up more space on my hard drive? and what's the meaning of re-writing it 35 times as opposed to 7 times by Secure Empty Trash? i have no idea what any of this lingo means...can somebody please explain this to me so i know i'm not screwing up my computer somehow...thanks
(Version 2.3.5) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
 | Jan 8 2009 |
When Mac OS X's Secure Empty Trash erases, it will write over the same location on the hard drive 7 times, which is sort of like "scribbling" over the area so it makes it increasingly difficult to read what was originally on the hard drive. Permanent Eraser makes use of a method (the Gutmann Method) to erase a file up to 35 times. This will not cause your hard drive to fill up or anything of the like.
(Version 2.3.5) | |
 | Nov 17 2008 |
APPSCOUT The 'warning' is no longer coming up, as it did in v2.2.3. Should we delete this preference file? com.edenwaith.permanenteraser.plist
(Version 2.3.4) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Nov 17 2008 |
EDENWAITH Yes, if the warning doesn't appear, delete the Permanent Eraser preference file (~/Library/Preferences/com.edenwaith.permanenteraser.plist) and that will reset any settings.
(Version 2.3.4) | |
 | Feb 10 2008 |
Easy, reliable.
(Version 2.3.3) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Jun 1 2007 |
BELINE Ok, what is this "Once your data has been erased, it can no longer be read through traditional means" business? I don't think people interested in using a program like this are concerned with "traditional means." I think it is more likely they are interested in their data being unreadable by "any means." You don't do this kid of erase to prevent that guy on ebay from reading your homework, you do a simple format to zero for that. You use software like this to keep the law at bay. Where can I find a program like that?
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| [ 11 Replies - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Jun 2 2007 |
EDENWAITH What is meant by "traditional means" are specialized software programs and techniques which can scan a drive and retrieve data from files which were deleted, but not fully erased. If someone is looking for a way to overwrite their files, then things like Secure Empty Trash, Permanent Eraser, or Disk Utility can be used to erase files or zero out an entire drive. But if you want to make sure that no one will ever be able to retrieve your data, about the only fully secure method is to grind and incinerate your drive.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Jun 2 2007 |
BELINE Grind... Hmmm... Yeah... No, I understand what you are saying, and I think I have found a fairly secure (maybe even over-board) method... I am using Permanent Eraser for file deletion (I trust the Gutman (sp?) Method over the other options) and then I have ShredIt X run on free-space nightly. From what I understand about magnetics and how data recovery works, it actually works by sampling the polarity of the plater area near the bit, and not the actual bit it's self. The is because the polarity "leaks" out over time. Permanent Eraser (while great as an initial step) only writes random data real quick to one spot. Unfortunately, this doesn't effect the nearby area that much, and in the end is about as effective as writing to the spot only once. I use Permanent Eraser for short-term security, and the nightly wipes of ShredIt to randomize the "spilt" polarities, as they are done over time... From my research, this is the next best thing to grinding the plater to a fine dust... :-D
(Version 2.3.2) | |
 | Jun 2 2007 |
BELINE Having trouble wiping folders containing a large number of files... Hangs... It also hung while wiping an ISO file... Something about large file sizes?
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Jun 2 2007 |
EDENWAITH How large of an ISO file were you trying to delete?
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Jun 3 2007 |
BELINE It happens with any thing/group of size. Ex: Around 200 JPG files. It will get through about 150 or so of them, and start to slow down, eventually just stopping on one. Again, I understand how this all works, and that large files (the ISO was 300+ Megs) take a long time to write over 35+ times. But progress should be steady (I think)... Shouldn't it? Shouldn't a similar size JPG wipe at the same speed no matter if it is the first of the 300th file?
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Jun 3 2007 |
BELINE I forgot to mention: Intel 2.33 C2D - 2 GB Ram
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Jun 5 2007 |
EDENWAITH The largest slow downs I've seen while deleting is deleting an application (which often contains a lot of smaller files inside it), yet a single file of the same size can be deleted relatively quickly. I will need to test deleting a large iso file and see if I encounter the same problems that you've been having.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Nov 28 2007 |
EDENWAITH The problem with Permanent Eraser hanging has been reproduced. This only seems to happen at times when a large batch of files is being erased. I created a folder of 3000 files, then started to erase them using PE 2.3.2. Around the 250th file, PE stopped erasing. I ran another test, and it had similar results where it had problems around the 250th file (it wasn't the same exact number, but it was close). However, this test was run a third time on another computer (a recent Mac mini), and it never had encountered any problems. I will investigate this issue further to solve this issue.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Nov 28 2007 |
BELINE Very nice, thank you for still looking into this, as it has been quite a while since I posted this problem. Very nice.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Dec 9 2007 |
EDENWAITH The problem with Permanent Eraser hanging after deleting 250 files has been resolved. The fix will be in the next release of Permanent Eraser.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Dec 30 2007 |
EDENWAITH Permanent Eraser 2.3.3 fixes this issue where PE would stall after erasing around 250 files.
(Version 2.3.3) | |
Replies:
| Jun 2 2007 |
EDENWAITH Secure Empty Trash uses the 7-pass DoD algorithm to erase over the data in your Trash. Permanent Eraser ups this level by using the 35-pass Gutmann Method when overwriting your data. Permanent Eraser's other advantages over using the Secure Empty Trash are that PE can erase selected files, instead of only those in the Trash and it can also erase CD-RWs and DVD-RWs.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Apr 14 2007 |
ROBK This comment is no longer relevant. From the Developer's Web Site: "Permanent Eraser 2.2.3 introduced a feature where a dialog box would appear once the application had launched. This warning gives the user the option to either quit or continue with the program. To prevent this warning from appearing, hold down the Option key when launching Permanent Eraser. "
(Version 2.3.1) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Mar 31 2007 |
TESTER Does not run correctly: It starts, asks if I want to secure empty the trash, empties the trash, then quits. Unsatisfactory. There is potential here, but it needs work. Running 10.3.9
(Version 2.3) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Apr 1 2007 |
EDENWAITH If you launched Permanent Eraser by clicking on it, its default action is to erase the Trash. However, if you are trying to delete certain files which are not in the Trash, drag the file(s) onto the PE icon to delete the selected file(s). If the application responded in a manner other than how you expected, please elaborate further on how you were using PE.
(Version 2.3) | |
| Jan 14 2007 |
FERRUCCIO BUSONI Can someone tell me why it is necessary to overwrite a file more than once? Suppose you have a 100MB hard drive. (I know -- it's just an example.) It is filled with a 100MB file. You delete that file, then load another 100MB file onto the drive. The first 100MB is completely gone, right? Because if it isn't, then you would be fitting more than 100MB on the drive -- and if anything significant could be recovered, then you'd be fitting a lot more than the drive's capacity. If any remotely useful data can be recovered after one -- let alone seven -- rewrites, couldn't one find a way to fit more data on a hard drive than its capacity? I don't see why one would need to overwrite more than just once.
(Version 2.2.3) | |
| [ 5 Replies - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Jan 16 2007 |
JEEPEE Here is some information: http://rixstep.com/2/20030314,00.shtml .
(Version 2.2.3) | |
| Apr 14 2007 |
FERRUCCIO BUSONI So, then, they're saying it is possible to store 8.75TB on a 250GB drive, provided you overwrite 35 times and then use fancy forensic hardware to recover the rewrites. Is that really true? It would be far to slow to actually use, but it's still surprising that after 35 random rewrites, you can recover all, or even most, of anything coherent from each layer.
(Version 2.3.1) | |
| Apr 14 2007 |
JEEPEE Where did you read that? With the Gutmann-method it's, as far as I know, impossible to recover the data.
(Version 2.3.1) | |
| Apr 14 2007 |
FERRUCCIO BUSONI Yes -- I'm saying if you don't use the Gutmann method. If you just overwrite thirty-five times. The Gutmann method is supposedly necessary because even after thirty-five rewrites, your data can be recovered.
(Version 2.3.1) | |
| Apr 14 2007 |
JEEPEE I think that's because you overwrite it 35 times exactly the same way. Gutmann overwrites them using specific patterns and random. Well it's complicated... :-)
(Version 2.3.1) | |
| Jan 7 2007 |
SPLAIN I've been using Permanent Eraser for a while, now. Version 2.2.2 is pretty straightforward and works fine. The fact that this program uses the Gutmman Method should be enough of a reason for folks to use it. Highly recommended.
(Version 2.2.2) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Jan 6 2007 |
AESCHYLUS EVERYBODY MAKES MISTAKES and clicks on the wrong icon, or runs the wrong program, once in a while. It is unacceptable for this program not to give us an opportunity to prevent erasing files EVERY time it runs. I was going to use this program to compare it to Secure Empty Trash, but, well, I make mistakes too. Developer, add this teensey little feature and you'll have a useful program. Otherwise, nevermind.
(Version 2.2.2) | |
| [ 2 Replies - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Jan 7 2007 |
EDENWAITH These are some good points that have been brought up. An option should be present so the warning message appears each time Permanent Eraser is run.
(Version 2.2.2) | |
| Jan 7 2007 |
AESCHYLUS Thanks for being so responsive. I would trust Guttman to keep my ex wife out of my files :) This could make life a lot more pleasant.
(Version 2.2.2) | |
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