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How to safely shred an alias
on Mac OS X using ShredIt
You can use ShredIt for Mac OS X as a file shredder to safefly and securely delete an alias
- This type of function is called interchangeably "shred file", "erase file", "wipe file, or "secure delete file". more info
- Don't just shred an alias in the usual way. Here's why.
When you shred an alias, ShredIt shreds the file the alias points to, not the alias file itself.
For example, let's say you created an alias that pointed to your income tax file.
If you drag the alias, "Income Tax File Alias" that you just created to the trash can, the alias "Income Tax file Alias" would be moved to the trash can, but the file it points to, "Income tax file" would remain where it was. That's because the trash can is part of the operating system and that's how the operating system handles alias files dragged on to the trash can.
However, ShredIt is not part of the operating system - it's an application program. Applications programs don't get the same information from the operating system as the trash can does. When you drag an Alias file on to an application program, the operating system resolves the alias before passing the file name up to the application program. So if you dragged the "Income Tax File Alias" on to ShredIt, the operating system would resolve the alias and pass the name of the file the alias points to, "Income tax file" to ShredIt. ShredIt would then shred the "Income tax file", just like you had just requested it to do.
This is probably not what you wanted ShredIt to do. However, this is not unique to the ShredIt application. All applications on the Macintosh handle aliases this same way, since this is how the operating system works.
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Requirements
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Instructions
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If you do want to shred an alias file safely, erase the "File" not the "Alias to the File".
Using the Buttons. Double-click the ShredIt X Icon to start the program. Click the "Shred File" button on the main dialog. From the "Open" Dialog, pick the file you want to erase.
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Using the Menu. Double-click the ShredIt X Icon to start the program, and then pick the file you want to shred using the “File” Menu .
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Notes
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- For more detailed information about ShredIt X for Mac OS X, refer to the
- There's an important difference between the technical terms "delete" and "secure delete".
- The technical computer term "delete" refers to the type of computer function where the data is marked as deleted, but not really gone. Functions such as dragging a file to the trash/recycle bin and then emptying it marks the data as deleted so the space can be used again, but the data itself remains on the hard drive and recoverable until it is overwritten by something else. On a hard drive with lots of free space, this could take months or even years.
- On the other hand, the technical term "secure delete" refers to the type of computer function where the data is overwritten by other characters so the data can't be recovered. "Secure Delete" is also referred to as "clean", "wipe", "erase" and "shred". Computer software that performs this type of function is often called a "file shredder" a "data shredder" or "secure delete utility".
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