User Guide

Getting Started

Hardwipe is a data sanitization utility designed to permanently erase, or to "hard wipe", data on disk and portable storage media such as USB flash drives. It supports the following data sanitization commands:

• Wipe Drive
• Wipes Files (including folders)
• Clean Free Space

The software runs from within the OS, making it convenient for everyday use.

Explorer Context Menus

You can use Hardwipe directly from within Windows Explorer by right-clicking on file items and selecting the command you want. You will always be asked to confirm your intention before Hardwipe will remove any data, so you shouldn't worry unduly about wiping files by mistake.

Note. Explorer context commands are available only with the installer based edition of Hardwipe. They are not supported with the portable edition.

Sanitization Schemes

Hardwipe supports a range of data sanitization schemes in common use throughout government agencies around the world. The list is includes the GOST R 50739-95, DOD 5220.22-M, Schneier and Gutmann schemes. Additionally, Hardwipe can perform verification for any scheme.

Sanitization Commands

Wipe Files

The Wipe Files command destroys only the file items you select. You can select multiple files and folders with this command, and Hardwipe will not only overwrite file contents, but will also destroy the filenames themselves. If you select a folder, all contents within the folder will be destroyed, as well as the folder itself.

Once data is wiped, it will not be easily recoverable, although certain caveats may apply if the device were to be subjected to laboratory analysis. While it is often convenient to wipe individual files, if security is a priority, then it is generally better to wipe the entire drive.

Wipe Drive

This command can be used to wipe a drive volume of all data, including the drives's format information. Hardwipe performs a low level overwrite of the drive volume, and it will need to be re-formatted once wiping is complete. Where a single physical device has multiple partitions, overwriting at the volume level has the advantage of allowing volumes to be wiped individually. Although Hardwipe doesn't need a volume to be pre-formatted, it does require that Windows assign it a drive letter before it can be wiped.

Wiping an entire drive may take several hours, or even longer, depending on the chosen sanitization scheme. It is possible to wipe multiple drives simultaneously by running multiple instances of Hardwipe. This is advantageous when wiping slow speed removable media, such as flash drives. Additionally, you may wish to leave your computer unattended while the operation is performed and have Hardwipe shutdown your computer when it has finished. See the Auto-Shutdown option, below, for more information.

Note. Elevated privileges are required to wipe internal drives, but are generally not required for removable media. Hardwipe will request elevation as required.

Clean Free Space

The Clean Free Space command overwrites the unused space on the selected drive volume(s), but does not delete any existing data. Cleaning empty space simply prevents old data—data which has already been deleted but is still physically resident on the device—from being recovered later.

Audit Logging

Clicking on the Log button will display an audit log associated with the most recent operations.

Sometimes a sanatization command may fail, or may succeed only partially. In this case, you will be notified and the log can be used to discover the reason.

By default, the audit log contents are held in memory and are lost when Hardwipe exits. You may opt to have the record of the last sanitization operation stored so that it will retained the next time the application re-starts. See the configuration options for more information.

Special Features

Auto-Throttle (Speed Setting)

Clearing large drives, or wiping over large numbers of files, typically requires a lengthy period of disk writing. In such cases, your computer may become less responsive as applications have to share drive IO resources. Often this will not be a problem. Indeed, it may be preferable to have Hardwipe complete the process as quickly as possible, especially if you plan to leave your computer unattended while it is performed. If, however, you wish to continue using your computer, any reduction in your computer's responsivity can be annoying. Hardwipe aims to accommodate by intelligently adjusting the disk writing speed, or throttling back, if it detects that the computer is in use.

When the Speed setting is set to "Automatic", Hardwipe will slow disk writing when it detects mouse or keyboard activity, but will allow it to increase when it thinks the computer is idle or the application is in the foreground. You can override this by selecting either the "Maximum" or "Restricted" throttle buttons on the main window.

Auto-Shutdown

During a prolonged wipe operation, you may wish to leave your computer unattended and have Hardwipe shutdown it down (or log off) automatically when it has finished. In this case, simply select an auto-shutdown option on the main window at any time until the sanitization command completes. Ensure that you save any work and quit other foreground applications.

In the event the wiping operation does not fully succeed, computer shutdown will not occur, so as to give you the opportunity to see that a problem was encountered and review the log.

If you change your mind at any time prior to the job completing, you can simply de-select the shutdown option to prevent shutdown from occurring.