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NoTrace is a powerful "I/O Trace Prevention Utility" which will help you eliminate files which were marked by the system as deleted but were not physically removed.
As we all know, whenever we delete a file, either manually or automatically, Windows does not remove it physically from your hard-disk-drive(HDD) or floppy-disk-drive(FDD) but instead, for efficiency, it marks it in the file system as being removed.
By marking it as deleted the system states that although a "useable" file resides there its space can be used/recycled whenever space is needed for other files.
This is generally fine but what happens when we delete files which contain confidential data? What then? What can we do to make sure that no one can recover that file or any file for that matter?
NoTrace has the solution!!! All we have to do is to create a temporary garbage file large enough to fill 85%-95% of the free space available on disk and consequently overwrite all the files which were marked by the system as deleted but were not physically removed.
Of course we'll have to be careful to leave some space to Windows while we create the temporary garbage file but that's only necessary for the Windows partition.
For disks that don't contain Windows physically, say floppy-disk-drives, we can use 100% of the free space.
By using NoTrace you can protect your local disk against intruders which might be looking for a way to recover your data and you can also stop hiding your floppy disks from nosy roommates :)
Usage
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The List -
This is the main display area which will contain valuable information about the selected drive. It contains the following sections:
- Volume Name - Used to show the volume name and location;
- Drive Type - Used to show the drive type, if possible;
- File System - Used to show the file system type;
- Capacity - Used to show the partition's capacity;
- Used Space - Used to show how much space is currently in use;
- Free Space - Used to show how much space is free;
- User Space - Used to show how much space is available for the current user. If the operating system implements per-user quotas, this value may be less than the total number of free bytes on the disk. Please note & remember this size!!!
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The Slider -
The slider represents a percentage value ranging from 1% to 100% and it's used to specify how much of the User Space should be occupied by the temporary garbage file.
Please take a good look at the text situated below the slider because it will show you exactly how much space will be used by the temporary garbage file and how much space will be left untouched.
These values are separated by a slash(/) and the format is as follows: "Selected Space / Untouched Space".
Select with caution!!!
- Select(F7) - This button is used to select a new drive/partition;
- Refresh(F5) - This button is used to refresh the drive/partition information;
- Start(F8) - This button is used to initiate a NoTrace session. A file dialog will prompt you to select a location for the temporary garbage file inside the selected drive. To prevent the case of power failures, hurricanes, tsunami or other unpredictable events please make sure that you remember where you saved this file because it must be deleted manually in case such events suddenly stop your system;
- Exit(Ctrl+Q or Escape) - Exit the application;
- Manual(F1) - Open & read the manual.
Final notes
- New Users - Before you start cleaning a hard-disk-drive please learn how to clean a floppy-disk-drive. This will help you build-up experience. Quote: Be careful!!!
- Warning - Don't use all the free space on the Windows partition! Although we know Windows needs little minimal-free-space available please make sure you leave a rough 500MB of free space for file buffering and related operations. Quote: Be careful!!!
- Info - Please note that a NoTrace session can take a lot of time on large capacity disks and slow systems. A NoTrace session is generally influenced by the disk's performance, the disk's type and the amount of space which will be processed;
- Tip - The first thing you should do after a NoTrace session is to analyze(where applicable) and defragment your disk. Disks often become fragmented after large numbers of files are added or removed, so defragmenting helps to ensure the best file system performance. For empty floppy disks we also recommend a full format.
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