Total Commander

Hi, i have a feature request to add a new option in configuration that will allow to enable and disable secure deletion of files.
Here is the screen shot I've made:
(Image can be found on i44 dot tinypic dot com slash 5l32oi.png )

Basically when enabled, when user deletes a file, the file is first renamed to some random string and then deleted.

This will remove the original file name from MFT and will prevent to recover original file name with file recovery programs.

Example:
file: C:\path\company_project.doc

when its deleted this file name will remain in MFT, but if its first renamed to C:\path\945f996c9a09d5b098c6 and then deleted in MFT will only remain the 945f996c9a09d5b098c6 string

This can easily be implemented by adding one IF to delete file function and call rename if setting is on.

So sorry for my bad English.

I would call this security-by-obscurity.
Although the filename is obfuscated, the actual data will still be physically on the drive. Better get a proper wipe tool and add an internal command/button so you can really delete your sensitive data safely.

Other than that:
Use TrueCrypt or another encryption tool to keep your sensitive data protected in the first place.

The actual file data can be wiped(overwritten) very easily with external tools. I'm speaking about MFT file records that stay even if you overwrite the actual file data.
And even if you wipe the actual file data, other user can run recovery tools and tell what file you deleted and wiped by its filename.

That is a matter of the wipe tool you use....

Still I don't think it makes much sense to add this functionality to the unsafe delete method of TC.

Just find a good wipe tool that also ensures proper deletion of MFT records (or use encryption).

Secure deletion is an useful and popular function, in xplorer2 it's called "Shred", and "Wipe" in FreeCommander, sometimes I have to switch to xplorer2/freecommander to delete lots of sensitive files.

And, "New File" is another my preferred function in xplorer2, you can create any extension's file with only a keypress.

I know TC plugins / external tools can get the same above effects, but I think that is better to add common used operation as internal commands, such as create new file, create new file and edit, left double click, right double click, copy tiemstamp between 2 files/dirs, and many many more.

xmeron wrote:I know TC plugins / external tools can get the same above effects, but I think that is better to add common used operation as internal commands, such as create new file, create new file and edit, left double click, right double click, copy tiemstamp between 2 files/dirs, and many many more.

With plugin or external tool you may add a usercommand, then use it with one keypress for multiple files.
How 'create new file' works? You may create any number of files using batch files.

Secure deletion will be only effective if the operating system (and all its device driver) support secure deletion. All "secure" single file deletions are unsecure because of temporary files created by operating system and applications. In case of Vista and volume shadow copy service secure "overwriting" is shady because a copy may be will created before "overwriting". Another questionable case is secure file deletion on a UDF DVD-R or on flash drives. Secure file deletion is not simple and not guaranteed.

Encoding sensitive data gives security regardless of other circumstances.

I have TC delete files to the recycle bin and then I use "SafeIT Security Suite" to securely delete the files. Works fine for me.

"Secure delete", in the sense of overwriting the deleted file with junk data according to some of the overwriting standards like Bruce Schneier's algorithm or the U.S. DoD standard, would be a very welcome and needed feature in Total Commander, IMHO. Again, IMHO, it is a feature that a file manager really does "need", or at least would benefit much from having. Yes, there are surely "extensions" and third-party tools that can be used to do it, and I realize the "use addons, this if Firefox" culture is wide-spread in these days, but still, having all the needed functions in the same program is much more convenient and effective (no need to install multiple programs to do file management stuff, just the one program that does everything). Also, TC already has integrated many useful features that aren't quite necessary and could be replaced with third-party tools, such as the Create/Verify Checksums feature that's been improved with SHA256 and other advanced standards very recently, I might add.

So, that's my argument for resurrecting this thread. Here's hoping we'll see a secure delete feature in TC in future versions!

Secure Delete sounds good to me too as an option in a file manager. How exactly it is implemented is another question; as a user I would just expect relative confidence that the files I delete that way would not be easily restorable.

I think secure deletion may be easilly implemented as a packer plugin. You just pack files to nowhere!

Oops, my idea wasn't new at all.

Also any wiping tool may be easilly called from TC with filelist to wipe so there is no need to embed such function into TC directly.

Elendacil,
BTW, TC was here with a tons of plugins much earlier than Firefox appeared.

MVV wrote: Also any wiping tool may be easilly called from TC with filelist to wipe so there is no need to embed such function into TC directly.

Elendacil,
BTW, TC was here with a tons of plugins much earlier than Firefox appeared.

Sure, there's no "need" in the sense of "absolute requirement to be useful", but for other definitions of "need", there might well be. One of the best points about integrated tools is that then you don't have to go looking for third party tools all the time. And in the case of something like a secure delete tool, in this age of "privacy, what is that, is that a new facebook app or something?" it's not always easy to find a good one, and it would be very useful to have that integrated in the file manager.

Firefox popped into my mind probably because it was such a visible proponent of this "nothing integrated, use (buggy and constantly breaking with every update of the browser itself) plugins instead" for such a long time. At least these days the update process sorta works. I understand it is kind of a personal taste, whether one prefers having stuff integrated or separated into numerous plugins, and both sides have their ups and downs, but since TC is clearly one of those programs that has nothing in principle against integrating useful but not mission-critical features in the program itself, I'd say secure delete would be a great addition.

TC itself already has many features embedded, and there are a lot of ones that are requested...

Sorry, I think that it is too risky to add such a tool directly to Total Commander. Data deleted with such a tool is really gone forever. If you do this by accident, you can do a lot of damage.

However, there is the tool "Eraser" for secure deletions for the right click menu, which also works in Total Commander:

http://eraser.heidi.ie/

You can use it via right click menu (Shift+F10). It is open source, and supports 32-bit and 64-bit versions.