File Wiper Help
The program FileWiper is a program that is intended to safely destroy the content of files. This destructive job is done by overwriting the content of a given file before deleting it. To overwrite the file content a user can choose one of the predefined wiping algorithms. Further, after wiping the file content the name of a file is also overwritten using a special wiping algorithm.
Additionally, it is possible to safely destroy a file’s parent folder. If this optional feature is activated then the folder name is overwritten too using a special wiping algorithm. Thereafter, this folder is deleted too, of course.
Another feature which should be mentioned in this section is that the program FileWiper firstly tries to delete all given files using the user’s standard privileges. Only if that fails it is tried to restart the program with administrator privileges.
| Note: | Please keep in mind the program FileWiper is by intension not designed to wipe already deleted files, which in turn means a cleaning of unused hard drive sectors. For such use cases other programs are available on the Internet. |
Warning!
Using this program is really dangerous! This is because of files which are deleted by this tool are overwritten. It means that a recovery of the original content of those files is definitively impossible as soon as the wiping procedure has started. Therefore, use this program really carefully!
This chapter wants to give an overview about the files belonging to the FileWiper program. Therefore, see table below to get more familiar with all files belonging to this program.
| File | Description |
| Program Runtime Files | |
| FileWiper.exe | This file represents the core of program FileWiper and includes all necessary functionality. |
| pdcmse32.dll | This file represents the Shell Extension for 32–bit platforms and will be registered on those kinds of platforms to allow a direct adding of files and folders to the wiping list. Further please note after registering this Shell Extension an additional file named pdcmse32.log is created. This file contains errors that may happen in conjunction with the Shell Extension. |
| pdcmse64.dll | This file is equal to file above but it is used for 64–bit platforms instead. Further please note after registering this Shell Extension an additional file named pdcmse64.log is created. This file contains errors that may happen in conjunction with the Shell Extension. |
| Program Generated Files | |
| FileWiper.cfg | This file represents the program’s configuration and includes all settings made by a user as well as other settings like the program’s start position and window size, the sizes of the program’s dialog boxes and so on. |
| FileWiper.error | This file contains runtime error messages that can occur when it is tried to wipe a file that needs extended access rights. If such an error happens the program tries to wipe the affected file by querying the user for administration rights. This means in turn this file is used just to document such kind of problems for a later use and analysis. |
| FileWiper.fatal | This file is used to record all internal program faults and exceptions. Usually, this file should never appear while using program FileWiper. But anyway, nobody knows if the programmer didn’t do something wrong. Therefore, please send this file back to the program’s author to allow bug fixing and to improve the program’s quality. |
| FileWiper.trace | This file contains runtime traces of the program and is only available if the program has been compiled with the set TRACE flag. Otherwise this file is not created. |
The program FileWiper is designed as so–called “portable Application”. This means the other way round that it is not necessary to install this program. Therefore, simply copy all files belonging to this program into a preferred folder and start it.
| Note: | The details mentioned above are not the complete story. This is because of that users can additionally register the Shell Extension. In such a case it becomes really necessary to unregister this Shell Extension before copying or moving all program files into a different location! |
This chapter wants to provide the user with an overview of all command line arguments supported by program FileWiper. Therefore, please take a closer look at table below to find out which kind of command line arguments can be used.
| Argument | Options | Description |
| --register | Name and path of the Shell Extension’s configuration file. |
This command line argument is used to perform all tasks needed to register the program
inside the Windows system. In such a case the user will be asked to start the program
with administrator privileges. This command line argument is intended for internal
use only! Note: Name and path of the Shell Extension’s configuration file is created internally and is temporary stored into the system’s TEMP folder. |
| --unregister | None. | This command line argument is used to perform all tasks needed to unregister the program from the Windows system. In such a case the user will be asked to start the program with administrator privileges. This command line argument is intended for internal use only! |
| --forceshow | None. | This command line argument is used during program restarts to ensure that the restarted program instance is shown. Usually, the program starts into the Icon Tray as soon as additional files are available. Keep in mind, if files are included this parameter must be used behind the given file list. Furthermore, this command line argument is intended for internal use only! |
| --relaunch | None. | This command line argument is mainly needed to disable internal safety checks like the user confirmation and checking if another program instance is already running. Keep in mind, if files are included this parameter must be used behind the given file list. Furthermore, this command line argument is intended for internal use only! |
| <files> | N/A | This command line argument represents the list of affected files. Such a list is usually handed over to the program through the Windows system as soon as the belonging Shell Extension is executed. Furthermore, this command line argument is also used by a program restart to handover the remaining list of files, for which administrator privileges are required. |
| Hint: | Basically, it is not necessary to handover one of the above described command line arguments manually because those program parameters are mainly needed for managing the program’s behavior. But if it becomes necessary to manually use those arguments please ensure all described instructions. |
This chapter wants to provide the user with an almost complete overview about all features supported by the FileWiper program. Therefore, please continue reading to get more familiar with the program’s features.
As mentioned above the program FileWiper is shipped with an additional Shell Extension. This Shell Extension is mainly needed to easily call the program from within the Windows Explorer. But keep in mind this Shell Extension must be registered manually. For this purpose simply open the Settings dialog and activate page “Shell Extension”. As next configure the shown parameters if needed and then click button [Register]. Be aware if the program was started without administration privileges you have to confirm the system’s message box to complete this registration. To unregister the previously register Shell Extension proceed as described above but click button [Unregister] instead. If the Shell Extension is already registered then users can change its configuration by clicking button [Update] instead.
The program FileWiper is generally designed to work in the background. This actually means that the program can run in the system’s Icon Tray area. For this purpose the program provides a special toolbar button. Furthermore, if the program is executed with a list of file names and/or folder paths (e.g. by using the Shell Extension) the program automatically starts into the Tray Icon area. Users can bring the program to front simply by clicking the program’s icon. Additionally, the program’s Tray Icon also supports a context menu which can be activated by right–clicking the icon.
Of course the program FileWiper also supports dragging and dropping of files and folders. This feature is very helpful when for example files and/or folders should be safely deleted that are contained in the Recycle Bin.
The program FileWiper supports various wiping algorithms that can be used. For more information about these algorithms please see following table.
| Algorithm | Description |
| Zero | This method wipes the file content with a series of zeros. Further, this algorithm is very fast and provides a good security. |
| One | This method wipes the file content with a series of ones. Further, this algorithm is very fast and provides a good security. |
| Zero & One | This method wipes the file content with a series of zeros followed by a series of ones. Further, this algorithm is fast but it provides a better security because every single bit is flipped at least once. |
| Simple Random | This method wipes the file content with a series of random bytes using standard random number generator. Further, this algorithm is pretty fast and provides a high security because the file contains “hieroglyphs” after wiping it. |
| Secure Random | This method wipes the file content with a series of random bytes using cryptographic random number generator. Further, this algorithm is pretty fast and provides a high security because the file contains encrypted “hieroglyphs” after wiping it. |
| Random String | This method wipes the file content with a randomly created string. Further, this algorithm is slower but it provides a higher security because the file contains “hieroglyphs” after wiping it. |
| Gutmann Method |
This method wipes the file content using the method that has been invented by Peter Gutmann. Further, this algorithm is the slowest one but it provides the highest possible grade of security!
For more information about this algorithm please see: http://www.nber.org/sys-admin/overwritten-data-guttman.html. |
| Note: | If users want to use a specific wiping algorithm it is necessary to choose the algorithm before starting with file wiping. This especially means that changing the wiping algorithm for a file that is currently in progress will not have any effect on this particular file. Vice versa, changing the algorithm during an active wiping will only affect those files that are “pending” at the time of change. |
The program FileWiper automatically suspends an active wiping as soon as the system reports an unplugged power supply. This feature has been implemented to take care about the system’s “healthiness” because file wiping works on the hard drive and this causes a higher consumption of energy. In such a case users can of course continue wiping simply by resuming the paused wiping. Further, after replugging the power supply wiping is continued automatically.