Permanent Eraser

Does the caution remain not to use this app on an SSD? How about on a Fusion drive?

Great app that does what it says ??

Valuable utility for those of us luddites stuck with spinning hard drives. Pro-tip for dummies like me: this app works by dragging and dropping files onto its icon in the Applications folder or in the Dock or the Finder sidebar; launching the app by double clicking or via the Dock will only start it up to delete items in the Trash. Once it's completed erasing, the app quits automatically.

Still a wonderful application for hard drives. Not used on my SSDs but certainly now and then on hard drives used for backup. And it is still free after all those years. Thanks to the developer!

This developer has kept his program alive and well for many years now. Always used it; always loved it! Good coder, great app! I gave it 5 stars, but the menu only records 4 and a half.

Great free app!! Works as described by developer. As mentioned, this is for mechanical hard drives only. Do not use on SSD.

I would NOT use it when you have a SSD !!!

The reason Apple removed 'Secure Empty Trash' in El Capitan is, in part, related to the nature of SSDs (Solid State Drives), which are becoming ubiquitous in computing devices. Because of the nature of how SSDs write and erase data, there is no guarantee that a 'Secure Erase' actually removes the targeted data. This problem was written up as a CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), CVE-2015-5901. You can read about the problem here: http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2015-5901 The article linked above includes 'References' to two further articles at Apple about the situation. NOTE: There is no reason to assume, to my knowledge, that 'Permanent Eraser' is going to permanently 'Secure Empty Trash' either, due to the same situation. Instead, it may simply be needlessly further shortening the life of your SSD compared to ordinary 'Secure Empty Trash.' Here are a couple articles about the situation as well as related information: How to Use “Secure Empty Trash” Equivalent in OS X El Capitan http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/12/secure-empty-trash-equivalent-mac-os-x/ How to replace El Capitan's missing Secure Empty Trash http://www.macworld.com/article/3005796/operating-systems/how-to-replace-secure-empty-trash-in-os-x-el-capitan.html

very simple and functionally tool alternative in os x captain

Never without this app! Developer is doing a great job on a useful piece of free software!

Great App does what it says! There definitely needs to be a check box in the preferences to keep the app open even when its not trashing files. So that you can drop files onto its icon in the dock. It would also be great if you could add an Erase Free Space option, as well as for other drive selection.

I like this! It's a simple app that securely erases files (it defaults to Gutmann 35-pass, but you can change the erase method in prefs to DoD 7-pass if you want) with no muss and no fuss. I like that I can use it without a dock icon or menubar icon if I want, and there is the very useful option to install a service that appears at the bottom of the contextual menu as "Erase" (look for this option in prefs). It's great deal for the price of free. BTW, there's a bug when running ver 2.5.2 on OS X 10.7 Lion that results in only one of several selected files being deleted when Permanent Eraser is activated via the contextual menu service. I wrote to the dev, who responded the same day to say that a fix is coming in version 2.5.3.

I don't think it's fair to rate this product low purely for it's outdated inclusion and hyping of the 35-pass Gutmann method. Apple themselves make the same erroneous claims in Disk Utility, so they set the precedent. If Apple doesn't know any better, how can small developers be expected to? In addition, this tool adds simplicity and convenience to what is more awkward and time consuming to accomplish via a combination of srm at the command line, Secure Empty Trash in the Finder, and Erase Free Space in Disk Utility. You can do the same things without this utility, but this utility makes it so much easier.

I understand that Peter Gutmann NO LONGER recommends his 35 pass wipe on MODERN hard disks. His old 35 pass method was optimized for OLD hard disks NOT modern SATA Hard disks. It still amazes me that people still think his 35 pass method is better.

Only one issue- I find that once launched, it erases so fast that I am unable to get to the Preferences before PE quits. Ands for me, that is very important. When that is resolved, five stars!

From the developer's description: "Once your data has been erased, it can no longer be read through traditional means." But can it be read through *any* means? That is the question.

Installed just as directions specified - drug program icon into app folder. Then installed plug-in. Program works fine, but only by launching it. I can't get the plug-in to work through services, nor can I install the program icon into the menu bar. Is this a limitation with snow leopard?

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

The 'warning' is no longer coming up, as it did in v2.2.3. Should we delete this preference file? - com.edenwaith.permanenteraser.plist

GREAT !! Easy, reliable.