Wiping Free Space
If you just empty your recycle bin, Windows removes the file entry from it's index and it appears gone. In reality, the data is still sitting out in free space on your harddrive.
This is true of temporary files and other windows files that may or may not contain personal/confidential information.
To erase these files, you can use Eraser and wipe free space.
Open Eraser from the Program Files Menu
From the Menu select File - New Task
Select the Drive you want to Erase free space on. In this example it is Drive C: Then click OK.
Right click the new task and select Run
A progress bar will begin in the lower left hand corner. On a large harddrive, this may take some time.
Important: Please note that this only erases the unused space on your hard drive. It does not touch your Operating System, Program Files, or Data Files. This should only be run on your local disk and not on network drives. Contact your network administrator for options regarding network drives.
If you need assistance or have questions, contact the ITSS Help Desk (ext. 8847 or email helpdesk@d.umn.edu).
Rev: 04.06 dee