Window Washer - Washing File Slack Space
You can set up Window Washer to wash the slack space in files. Slack space relates to unused hard drive space that is allocated to a file. Two key issues cause slack space to pose a potential security risk:
How Windows deletes files - When you delete a file, Windows does not actually remove the contents of the file from your hard drive. Windows only deletes a reference to the file from a table that lists all files on your computer. The table is like a table of contents that tells Windows where files are. Windows says that the file is deleted, but the content of the file still exists until Windows overwrites the same area on the hard drive with new information.
How Windows allocates hard drive space to files - Windows allocates space for files on a hard drive in blocks of bytes (also called clusters). When you save a file, Windows allocates space to the file in the form of these blocks. The size of the file determines how many blocks get assigned. If the file does not completely fill the last block allocated to it, the remainder is considered slack space, as shown in Figure 1.
In Figure 1, the file takes up all of blocks 1 through 4 and part of 5. The remainder of block 5 is slack space. Data from a previously deleted file may still be in the slack space.
This figure shows how a block allocated to a file may contain the content from a file that was previously saved to that block, then deleted. If that previous file had sensitive information in it and was deleted using a standard method, some of the file content still exists.
Window Washer finds out how much slack space remains at the end of a file that it is washing (deleting) and overwrites that content.
Note: Using the slack space setting may slow down the wash process significantly, depending on how many files you are washing and the speed of your computer.
To wash file slack space:
1. Start Window Washer, if it is not already open, and display the Window Washer window.
2. In the icon panel, click Options. The Options panel displays.
3. Click the Bleach Settings tab. The Bleach Settings tab displays.
4. Select Yes, to the right of Would you like to wash file slack space.
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