Permadelete

When you delete a file in Windows, the actual data remains on the hard drive until it is overwritten, and it can normally be retrieved using specialized software if you act quickly enough. Naturally, this is not ideal if you do not want the files to be recovered.

Permadelete is a lightweight application that can prevent recovery by overwriting the files with random data. It performs a single pass, unlike other similar programs, so it can get the job done very quickly.

Of course, some of you may have come across file shredding tools that allow you to overwrite files upwards of thirty times, but the latest research seems to indicate that performing more than one pass is not necessary when dealing with modern drives.

Since the data is only overwritten once, Permadelete can erase your files almost as quickly as if you were using the standard Windows Delete function.

You have the option of adding Permadelete to the context menu’s “Send To” folder during installation, something we certainly recommend, as it is much easier to shred files or folders by just right-clicking them. Unfortunately, though, you cannot add the new secure delete function to the main context menu.

Alternatively, you can drag and drop items over the application’s desktop shortcut to erase them. A confirmation dialog is displayed before the files are deleted, so there is no need to worry about removing them accidentally.

The application’s UI features a minimalistic design, and you can delete files or folders by simply dropping them into the program window. For the most part, though, we found the main GUI to be unnecessary, as the other deletion modes are much more efficient.

It would have been great if there were some alternative themes to choose from, as the default color scheme will probably not be to everyone’s tastes. Since the confirmation dialogs will be displayed on the desktop whenever you delete a file, it is important for them to blend well with the current Windows theme.

Permadelete is a nifty utility that, true to its name, enables you to permanently delete files by overwriting the data that remains on your hard drive. It is quick and very easy to use, but we would like to see some alternative UI themes added in future releases, as well as the possibility of shredding files using a key combination.