Frequently Asked Questions ZDelete Internet Eraser

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the purpose of ZDelete Internet Eraser?

To prevent others to access your private data you want to delete, i.e. stealing your information. ZDelete Internet Eraser is your personal security manager.

2. What is the purpose of ZDelete Internet Eraser?

ZDelete Auto-Cleaner can be scheduled for cleaning up your hard drives automatically (without user's interaction) using standard MS Windows Task Scheduler (see Scheduling ZDelete Auto-Cleaner in Chapter 3).

Another way to create a scheduling profile is to start the ZDelete Wizard and go to Step 4. In this screen, click the Run Scheduler button.

3. How easy is it to access ZDelete Internet Eraser functions?

ZDelete Internet Eraser can be engaged a number of different ways. From your keyboard, you can use the [Ctrl+Alt+Z] key combination. There are shortcuts in the Windows Start menu and on your desktop to run ZDelete Auto-Cleaner.

Here are some other ways to run ZDelete Internet Eraser:

From MS Explorer right-click a file or a drive (or a selected group of files and folders).
From the context menu choose ZDelete, ZDelete Auto-Cleaner, or ZDelete Disk Wiper.
From the MS-DOS prompt (in Windows 95/98) or Command Prompt (Windows NT/2000), start Console Application ZDelete.exe with or without parameters.

4. Which Operating Systems and File Systems are best to use with
ZDelete Internet Eraser?

ZDelete Internet Eraser has been successfully tested with the following operating systems and file systems:

32-bit Windows operating systems: Windows 95/98/ME and Windows NT3.51/4.0/2000/XP
File Systems: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS.

5. Do I need special OS permissions to install and use the software?

To install software on Windows 95/98/ME you do not need special permission.

To install software on Windows NT/2000 you need permission to install applications (i.e. as an Administrator or in the Power Users group). To use software you do not need any special permissions, unless the file is located on an NTFS partition. You must have permissions to "write" to the particular file in order to destroy it (you can not destroy the data if you do not have access to it).

6. If I use Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer, can I use ZDelete Internet Eraser to clean-up temporary files in Cache and Cookies?

Yes, ZDelete Auto-Cleaner can clean Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History, Favorites, and whatever else you specify in ZDelete Wizard. Netscape Navigator users might experience some limitations (see Attention to Netscape Navigator Users in Chapter 2).

7. Does ZDelete Software comply with any industry standards for data removal?

Yes, ZDelete Internet Eraser complies with the US DoD 5220.22-M / NISPOM 8-306 standard for cleaning and sanitizing.

For data destruction it follows the Department of Defense recommendation "Overwrite all addressable locations with a character, its complement, then a random character and verify".

Moreover, you can specify the number of passes yourself (one pass by default), thus the base operation can be repeated as many times as you need.

8. Is there a way to hide the ZDelete Can located on my Desktop?

It is simple to change the appearance of your Desktop. In the ZDelete Wizard, clear the related checkbox in Step 5.

9. I can not get the ZDelete Can off my Desktop.

ZDelete Internet Eraser could leave something after uninstallation only in one case - if somebody tried to remove it manually, not by means of standard "Uninstall ZDelete" procedure.

To uninstall ZDelete Internet Eraser go:

Start-Programs-ZDelete-Uninstall ZDelete.
Re-boot computer. If you did not uninstall ZDelete properly, you have to download and install new version of ZDelete Internet Eraser.
After that do wise uninstall. Then re-boot computer.

10. Can ZDelete permanently eliminate the index.dat files that are in the cookies, (etc) folders?

ZDelete Internet Eraser erases contents of index.dat files (temporary internet files, history...). However removing this file itself is not possible because operating system constantly uses it, so, ZDelete Internet Eraser will ask you to re-boot if standard cleanup procedure is not enough (for example, in case of corrupted cache).

To clean up "index.dat" file just mark related checkboxes in ZDelete Wizard ("My Cookies", "My Temporary Internet Files").

11. I want to clear search history that pops up when I try to search the internet using Google or any other internet search engine. How can I do it?

It is a standard Auto-Complete feature in Internet Explorer, which tries to automatically fill html forms on a web page (if turned on).

To clear Auto-Complete history just go to ZDelete Wizard and on the Step 2 check the checkbox "My Auto-Complete History (forms and passwords)"

12. After I finish using a hard drive or a floppy, how can I make sure that nothing can be restored?

ZDelete and ZDelete Disk Wiper both serve to this goal. Follow the steps below to remove all data:

Run ZDelete Internet Eraser for the documents and folders you want to destroy.
Run ZDelete Disk Wiper for the floppy drive or all logical drives on a hard drive, and it cleans up all free space. Nothing from previously deleted temporary files and folders will be recoverable.
The next person to use your floppy or hard drive will see only the files and folders you leave untouched by the ZDelete Internet Eraser process.

FAQ Internet Eraser