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How to use the scheduled free space shredding feature
of ShredIt X
The easiest way to ensure that you have erased all confidential data that you have disposed, is to shred your disk freespace on a regular basis. You can configure ShredIt X to do this automatically, on whatever schedule you prefer.
Keep in mind that
- Shredding disk free space, especially on a large drive may take quite a long time
- Your computer must be running and not asleep in order for Scheduled Free Space Shredding to run, so make sure not to schedule freespace shredding at a time when the computer is sleeping or has been shutdown.
- If you shred the free space on a disk by mistake, don't panic. Using this procedure will only shred your free space, not your data. We've made it easy to shred the free space of a disk and more difficult to shred the contents of a disk. This is intentional, so that you don't accidentally shred the contents of a disk (i.e. your data).
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Requirements
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Instructions
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Configure the schedule.
- From the “ShredIt X” menu, select “Preferences” and click on the "Freespace Schedule" tab.
- Pick the disk and the scheduled time for shredding.
For further information on updating the preferences, refer to the "How to Install ShredIt X" section of the ShredIt X ReadMe (pdf)
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Once you have configured the schedule preferences, ShredIt X will shred the freespace of the selected disk(s), provided
- ShredIt X is running
and
- Your computer is both running and not asleep
and
- If you are running scheduled freespace shredding on an external drive, it also must be both connected and mounted on the desktop
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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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