PARAGON Software GmbH Heinrich-von-Stephan-Str. 5c 79100 Freiburg, Germany Tel. +49 (0) 761 59018201 Fax +49 (0) 761 59018130 Internet www.paragon-software.com Email sales@paragon-software.com Disk Wiper™ 11 Professional User Manual Copyright© 1994-2011 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 What’s New in Disk Wiper 11 ...................................................................................................................... 5 Product Components ............................................................................................................. 5 Features Overview................................................................
Dynamic Disks............................................................................................................................................20 GPT versus MBR .........................................................................................................................................21 64-bit Support............................................................................................................................................21 Scheduling ..............................
Extra Functionality .....................................................................................................................................49 View Partition/Hard Disk Properties..................................................................................................................................... 49 File Transfer Wizard ..............................................................................................................................................................
Introduction Data security nowadays is the burning issue not only for companies and government agencies, but rank and file people as well. Our personality is now fully embedded in computer technology.
have their strong sides, for instance Linux can boast support of FireWire (i.e. IEEE1394) or USB devices. It enables to burn CD/DVD discs. However there can be some difficulties with detecting new hardware. DOS in its turn has no problems of that kind but is limited in features. The Linux/DOS environment requires no installation and can be of great help when the system fails to boot. Besides it offers a Windows XP like environment. WinPE based environment.
conditional execution, subroutines, repeatable iterations, disk/partition properties analysis, errors management, etc. Auxiliary Facilities File Transfer Wizard to make such operations as transferring of files/directories or burning of them to CD/DVD as easy and convenient as possible. Providing access to Paragon backups as regular folders, it may also help to replace corrupted data from a previously created image in case of an operating system failure.
GUID Partition Table (GPT). It is the next generation of a hard disk partitioning scheme developed to lift restrictions of the old MBR. GPT disks are now supported by Windows Vista/7, Server 2008, Mac OS X and Linux. Supported File Systems Full read/write access to FAT16/FAT32 partitions. Full read/write access to NTFS (Basic Disks) under Windows, Linux and PTS DOS. Compressed NTFS files are also supported. Full read/write access to Ext2FS/Ext3FS/Ext4FS partitions.
Online Distribution Disk Wiper 11 purchased over the Internet will be in form of an MSI package. After installing the product you can launch the Wiping Media Builder to prepare a wiping media. Depending on your product and edition, you might need to additionally download an image of our WinPE environment, which opens the option to prepare it on a CD/DVD/BD or a flash card before installing our software.
7. Enter your product serial number in the Serial Number field. You can find it in the product box or obtain from your reseller. Click Next; 8. On the next page you will be asked to provide some additional data. Also you will need to decide whether you want to get confirmation on registering the product by E-mail or not. Click Next, and then click Finish. That is all. The product is now registered. How to Download Updates/Upgrades Downloading of updates/upgrades can be fulfilled in the following way: 1.
Intel Pentium CPU or its equivalent, with 300 MHz processor clock speed 128 MB of RAM (256+ recommended) Hard disk drive with 250 MB of available space SVGA video adapter and monitor Keyboard Mouse During the installation additional free space (up to 1GB) will be required.
3. Confirm License Agreement. The License Agreement page displays the Paragon License Agreement. Read the agreement and then select the appropriate option to accept. If you do not agree with any conditions stated there, the installation process will be interrupted. By clicking the Print button, the License Agreement may also be printed out. 4. Provide Registration Information. On the Registration page you are to provide your product key and serial number. 5. Provide Customer Information.
To know more on how to handle the product’s interface and accomplish typical operations, please consult the Windows Components chapter.
5. Select the User specified CD/DVD image (.iso file) option, then browse for an ISO image of our WinPE 3.0 environment or manually type in a full path to it. By selecting the Typical option you can build our Linux/DOS environment, which we highly recommend you to do as well. You can get an ISO image of our WinPE 3.0 environment through the company’s web service. 6. Select the required thumb drive from the list of flash memory devices available in the system at the moment (if several). 7.
Wiping Media Builder can help you prepare our environment either on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive. To automatically boot from the wiping media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set up to boot from CD/USB first. 2. Launch a boot mode you need (Normal, Safe, Low-Graphics Safe) in the Boot menu. By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period. 3. Click on the required operation to start.
Normal Mode When the Normal mode is selected, the Linux launch menu appears: Wipe Wizard (enables to destroy all on-disk information or only remnants of deleted files/directories); File Transfer Wizard (allows coping files/folders to another disk or a partition as well as recording them to CD/DVD); Boot Corrector (helps to correct the Windows System Registry without Windows being loaded); Log Saver (helps to collect and send the necessary log files to the Technical Support); Command L
Booting from the WinPE wiping media The WinPE environment can be a real alternative to the Linux/DOS environment. Providing nearly the same level of functionality it offers an excellent hardware support and the same interface as the Windows version does. Startup To start working with the WinPE environment, please take the following steps: 1. Start up the computer from our WinPE wiping media. Wiping Media Builder can help you prepare our environment either on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.
4. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the right choice. 5. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject. Our WinPE 3.0 based environment offers excellent hardware support. However in case it doesn’t have a driver for your disk controller, your hard disks will be unavailable. Please consult the Adding specific drivers scenario to know how to tackle this issue.
resurrected from their deleted state with minimal effort by using the popular today Magnetic Force Microscopy technology. The only way to make sure that all the data has been erased from a hard drive is to overwrite all on-disk sectors with random patterns of ones and zeros. Although this sounds complex, there is an easy way to do this. The process of deliberately, irreversibly removing or destroying the data stored on a memory device (magnetic disks, flash memory drives, etc.
Fill each erased sector with 0xAA value. Finally, the target data area is to be verified. Military and government standards always require 100 percent residual data verification. It is necessary to make sure that the operation has been properly accomplished. Besides corrupted sectors discovered during the operation are to be logged to keep the user informed, since these sectors may contain classified information. The list of supported military and government standards may vary for your product.
GPT versus MBR GUID Partition Table (GPT) is the next generation of a hard disk partitioning scheme developed to lift restrictions of the old MBR.
Interface Overview This chapter introduces the graphical interface of the program. The design of the interface precludes any mistake being made on the part of the user. Most operations are performed through the system of wizards. Buttons and menus are accompanied by easy understandable icons. Nevertheless, any problems that might occur while managing the program can be tackled by reading this very chapter.
A number of panels offer similar functionality with a synchronized layout. The program enables to conceal some of them to simplify the interface management. All panels are separated by vertical and horizontal expandable sliders, allowing the user to customize the screen layout. Main Menu The Main Menu provides access to the entire functionality of the program.
Edit/View Sectors… View/edit sectors of the selected hard disk Properties… Get in-depth information on the properties of selected hard disk Partition Create Partition… Create a partition Format Partition… Format a partition Delete Partition… Delete a partition Assign Drive Letter… Assign drive letter to the selected partition Remove Drive Letter… Remove drive letter for the selected partition Wipe Partition… Irreversibly destroy all on-partition information Clear Free Space… Destroy any
Tool Bar The Toolbar provides fast access to the most frequently used operations: BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY Irreversibly destroy all on-partition information Switch to Express launcher Open the Help system Virtual Operations Bar The program supports previewing the resulting layout of hard disks before actually executing operations (so-called virtual mode of execution).
The bar contains several tabs. Each tab includes a separate button bar which can be folded by clicking it. Wiping Tools Starting the Wipe Wizard to help destroy all on-disk information or only remnants of deleted files/directories. Starting the Wiping Media Wizard to create a bootable media which can be used to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. Help and Documentation Launching the help system (you can also do it by pressing F1).
linear type) you won’t be able to see small partitions at all, but thing strips. On the other hand, if the proportional disk layout is critical for you, the linear type is exactly what you need. Nevertheless there’s a compromise solution – linear scaling with the minimal limit to small partitions. So if a partition is too small it will remain readable. Just click on the arrow icon on the top right side of the Disk Map to select the desired scaling type. Disk Map is synchronized with the Explorer Bar.
The program help is also HTML-oriented. You can read it and follow external links from to get additional information. To easily navigate through browsed pages, the program provides the following functionality: BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY Return to the previously browsed page Open the next browsed page Stop loading the current page Refresh the contents of the current page Legend Bar The Legend Bar explains the color scheme used for disk and partition presentation.
General Options This section contains a set of general options that will be taken into account during any operation carried out with the program: Partition Alignment mode. There are three options you can choose from: - Legacy. DOS and Windows OSes before Vista required that partitions had to be aligned to the “disk cylinder” or 63 sectors to address and access sectors correctly. It was OK, until 4K hard drives came into scene.
- Reset. Standard protection with acceptable performance. Maintaining a special journal, our program enables to automatically complete a data-sensitive operation interrupted by an accidental reset of your computer from our bootable wiping media, thus reviving the corrupted partition. - Power loss. Maximum protection, but minimal performance.
Hardware Information. Mark the option to include information on the used processor, disk drivers, network and USB adapters, etc. Bad blocks information. Mark the option to include information on the found bad blocks. Supervisor Approval. Mark the option to add a signature field for an executive or supervisor responsible for data sanitization procedures in your company. Font size… Select the most suitable font size from the list (12 pts by default).
Outgoing mail server (SMTP). To send messages by using the built-in mail client, it is necessary to have access to a computer running an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server. All outgoing messages are first sent to the SMTP server, which in its turn delivers them to the required recipients. The address may be represented as a traditional Internet host name (e.g.: mail.com) or as an IP numeric address (e.g. xxx.xxx.xxx.xx). User e-mail address.
You won't be notified if an operation requires the system restart. Virtual Mode Options In this section you may configure the virtual mode: Allow virtual mode. Mark the checkbox to enable the virtual mode. It is an effective way of protection from any troubles, since no operation will be executed until confirmation, thus giving you a second chance to weigh all pros and cons of this or that particular operation. We strongly recommend you to enable this mode. Close progress dialog automatically.
Viewing Disk Properties The main tool to view in-depth information on the properties of hard disks is the Disk Map. It represents the actual state of the computer’s hard disks. Generally the hard disks are represented on the map by rectangular bars, which also contain small-sized bars. The smallsized bars represent logical disks (partitions). When you select a large-sized bar, the Explorer Bar displays information about the disk in a bright, graphical form.
When you select a small-sized bar (i.e. corresponding to a logical disk) the Explorer Bar will display information on it as well. The page title will contain a drive letter, which is assigned to the disk. The disk layout graph will be colored in accordance with the volume ratio of the used space to the free space (the light colored sector).
2. Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Create Partition. There are other ways to start up this function, please consult the Interface Overview chapter to know more on the subject. Dialog Setup Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Yes button to confirm the operation. Define whether the partition will be Primary, Extended or Logical. You can choose the desired partition type from the pull-down list.
Volume label. Enter a label for the selected partition in this textual field. It is an irrelevant parameter usually used for drive identification. Drive letter assignment. The pull-down list contains vacant drive letters that can be associated with the newly formatted partition. In addition, there is the possibility to make further detailed settings (although the default values will do in most cases).
- Ext3 - Ext4 - Linux Swap v. 2 Dialog Startup 1. Select a partition on the Disk Map; 2. Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Format Partition. There are other ways to start up this function, please consult the Interface Overview chapter to know more on the subject. Dialog Setup Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Format button to confirm the operation. File system.
The amount of sectors per boot. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 and FAT32 file systems. Set the number of sectors to be reserved for the boot area on the partition with this spinner control. The amount of root entries. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 file system. Set the maximum amount of files/directories to be placed in the Root Directory on the FAT16 partition. The amount of sectors per cluster.
Select the byte mask…. The HEX value spinner control enables to set a two-figure hexadecimal character value ("00" by default). The available range is from "00" to "FF". It is synchronized with the ASCII value. Specify the number of wiping passes. You can choose a number of passes for the wiping pattern. Verify wipe results. You can also choose whether to carry out residual data verification or not specifying the percentage of sectors to check.
Wipe Tasks In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to wipe a hard disk/partition of any file system or only destroy any remnants of deleted files/directories left on disk without affecting the used data, thus providing high level of security. The operation can be accomplished with the Wipe Wizard or corresponding dialogs.
Wipe method. Here you can select a specific data erasure algorithm or create a customized method by marking the appropriate option. - In case you preferred to use a specific algorithm, the next page of the wizard enables to get detailed information on the selected algorithm, choose whether to carry out residual data verification or not specifying the percentage of sectors to check and estimate the time required to accomplish the operation.
Wizard Result After the operation is completed you can see a well informative summary page, providing structurally divided in-depth information on all the actions made in the wizard. The program also enables to store the resulted report. To do that, just press the Save button and choose the exact location in the opened dialog. To make sure that all on-disk data is irreversibly destroyed call the Disk Viewer dialog by clicking the appropriate tab and see it for yourself.
The Summary page will be available only when the Virtual operations are disabled. Available operation scenarios: Hard Disk Utilization Task Scheduling Automation of operations can really help you out when you’ve got to accomplish certain routine operations on a regular basis as it enables to execute them without your involvement while optimizing your computer’s work-load. Setting a Timetable Thanks to the embedded Scheduler, you can set a timetable for execution of any operation.
You need to select one of the variants. Depending on your choice, the scheduler displays a form that enables to set a timetable. To run the task in the log-off mode, please specify administering login info by following the appropriate link in the left lower corner of the page. The Shutdown System on Complete option enables to automatically switch off the computer on the successful accomplishment of the operation.
This feature can be particularly beneficial when the Scheduled Tasks list contains too many items. You can also enable/disable, rename, delete, refresh or modify properties of the selected task. Task Editor With the Task Editor you can easily modify properties of scheduled tasks. To do that, you should take the following steps: 1. Select a task on the Scheduled Tasks list. 2. Click the Properties button on the Scheduled Tasks list.
Creating a Scheduled Task You can set a timetable for execution of any operation. For backup and copy operations the program offers handy wizards, while all the others can be scheduled with the Save to Scheduler dialog. To create a scheduled task you should take the following steps: 1. Make sure the virtual mode of execution is enabled; 2. Carry out with the program all operations you need to schedule; 3. Call the Save to Scheduler dialog in the Main Menu: Tools > Save to Scheduler…; 4.
2. Carry out with the program all operations you need to be scripted; 3. Call the Generate Script dialog in the Main Menu: Tools > Generate Script…. Setup Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Generate button to confirm the operation. Script file name and location. By default, the program offers to add the script to the Task List with a name containing its creation date and time.
This command is unavailable if there are no operations on the List of Pending Operations. To learn more about scripts please consult the Paragon Scripting Language manual. Extra Functionality This chapter describes the supplementary functionality available in the program. View Partition/Hard Disk Properties The program enables to obtain in-depth information on the properties of hard disks and partitions.
File Transfer Wizard File Transfer Wizard is designed to make such operations as copying of separate files/directories or burning of them to CD/DVD as easy and convenient as possible. It may be of particular use in case of a system malfunction, caused either by a virus attack or files corruption, in order to get the system back on track again. Besides it provides access to Paragon backups as regular folders to browse through their contents or copy required files.
Files/directories deleted from the Clipboard remain intact on source disks. Destination to store the object(s). The File Transfer Wizard allows copying data to local or network drives, to physical partitions (without drive letters assigned), or burning them to CD/DVDs. Choose the way the data will be stored. Revision of changes. The Transfer Summary page provides structurally divided information on all the actions made in the wizard.
However you can manually define the required letter by selecting it from the pull-down list of available drive letters. 4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation. Remove Drive Letter In order to un-mount a partition you should take the following steps: 1. Select a partition on the Disk Map. 2. Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Remove Drive Letter. There are other ways to start up this function, please consult the Interface Overview chapter to know more on the subject. 3.
4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation. Check File System Integrity The program allows you to check integrity of a file system. It can be used to detect possible file system errors before performing any operation on a partition. To start the system integrity check you should take the following steps: 1. Select a partition on the Disk Map. 2.
Set whether to eject the disk after the operation is completed or not. Result After the operation is completed you can see results of the check. Edit/View Sectors With the built-in Edit/View Sectors tool the program enables to view/edit sectors on existing partitions/hard disks providing the possibility to directly access and modify sectors, save and restore sectors from specified files, navigate through the system metadata, etc.
Careless use of the Edit Sectors function may result in the irreversible data corruption. Send Log Files The program enables to simplify the procedure of sending support requests to the Paragon Support Team. In case of having difficulties with handling the program, you, with the help of this very function, can address the company support engineers and provide them with all the information they need such as the disk layout, performed operations, etc. in order to tackle the encountered problem.
3. Give a detailed description on the encountered problem. By clicking the Send button the built-in mail client will generate a template request with attached compressed log files and then send it to the Paragon Support Team. Log Files Log files are simple textual files that can be opened by any text editor. There are several log files automatically generated by the program: Stubact.log Contains in-depth information on parameters and performance of all operations carried out by the program Pwlog.
Typical Scenarios This chapter lists a number of the most frequently used scenarios that may be accomplished with the program. You can find here useful recommendations and descriptions of operations. Recovery Scenarios Fixing MBR after a boot virus attack Let’s assume that the MBR (Master Boot Record) of your hard disk has been corrupted as a result of a boot virus attack, thus your system fails to boot. To fix the MBR of your hard disk, please do the following: 1.
2. In the boot menu select Normal Mode to use the Linux environment (more preferable) or Safe Mode to use the PTS DOS environment (in case you’ve got problems with Linux). Moreover you’ve got the option to boot into the Low-Graphics Safe Mode (PTS DOS safe mode) to cope with a serious hardware incompatibility. In this case, only the minimal set of drivers will be included, like hard disk, monitor, and keyboard drivers. This mode has simple graphics and a simple menu.
8. Click the Finish button to close Boot Corrector. 9. Reboot the computer. Correcting BCD (Boot Configuration Data) To automatically correct Windows BCD, please do the following: 1. Start up the computer from our WinPE wiping media. Wiping Media Builder can help you prepare our environment either on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive. To automatically boot from the wiping media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set up to boot from CD/USB first. 2. Launch Boot Corrector. 3.
After completing the operation close the wizard, and then reboot the computer. Fixing Windows startup ability Let’s assume that due to an unknown reason your Windows fails to complete the startup procedure. At first everything seems quite OK, you can see the standard startup messages on the screen, but at some moment it hangs up. To fix your Windows startup ability, please do the following: 1. Start up the computer from our Linux/DOS wiping media.
6. Examine the file – maybe that’s where the problem is. If it contains a mistake, correct it by using the appropriate buttons. 7. If the Boot.ini file does not contain any mistake, please return to the Correct Windows Installations page to correct drive letters in the Windows System Registry. Copyright© 1994-2011 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
8. On the next page choose a hard disk from the pull-down list (if several), then the required partition. If you’re not sure which installation you need, please use the Properties button to get more info on the selected item. 9. Click the Edit Letters button to correct an existing drive letter or assign a new one in the Windows System Registry. 10. Once you’ve assigned the appropriate drive letter, close the dialog, then click the Apply button. 11. Confirm the operation. 12.
13. Click the Finish button to close Boot Corrector. 14. Reboot the computer. Copying of data from the corrupted system disk to another hard disk To retrieve valuable information from your hard disk and copy it to another hard disk when the system fails to boot, please do the following: 1. Connect the second hard disk to the computer. 2. Start up the computer from our Linux/DOS wiping media. Wiping Media Builder can help you prepare our environment either on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.
7. Select files you want to copy and place them to Clipboard by pressing the left arrow-button. Click the Calc button to estimate the resulted data size. 8. On the Select Destination Type, choose the way the data will be stored. Select the Save data to any local drive or a network share item. 9. On the Select Destination Path page, select a hard disk to copy the data to by pressing the standard browse button [...]. 10. On the Transfer Summary page check all parameters of the operation.
11. In the Progress window you can see in real-time a detailed report on all actions carried out by the program. 12. After the operation is completed, close the wizard by pressing the appropriate button. 13. Turn off the computer. This operation can also be accomplished with our wiping media. Burning of data from the corrupted system disk to CD/DVD To retrieve valuable information from your hard disk and burn it to CD/DVD when the system fails to boot, please do the following: 1.
6. Select files you want to copy and place them to Clipboard by pressing the left arrow-button. Click the Calc button to estimate the resulted data size. 7. On the Select Destination Type, choose the way the data will be stored. Select the Burn data to CD/DVD item. 8. On the Choose a Recorder page, select a recorder from the list of available devices and then set a volume label by entering it in the appropriate field. 9. On the Transfer Summary page check all parameters of the operation.
10. In the Progress window you can see in real-time a detailed report on all actions carried out by the program. 11. After the operation is completed, close the wizard by pressing the appropriate button. 12. Turn off the computer. This operation can also be accomplished with our wiping media. Hard Disk Utilization To irreversibly destroy all on-disk information without any possibility to recover and that way providing the maximum level of security, please do the following: 1.
4. On the Wipe Mode page, select the wipe out all the data to irreversible destroy all on-disk information. 5. On the Wipe Method page select a specific data erasure algorithm or choose to create a customized one (in our case we prefer to use a certified military standard). The list of supported military and government standards may vary for your product. 6.
8. Complete the wizard and then apply the pending changes. Extra Scenarios for WinPE Adding specific drivers Our WinPE 3.0 based environment offers excellent hardware support. Anyway you’ve got the option to add drivers for specific hardware with a handy dialog. To add drivers for specific hardware, please do the following: 1. Once you accept the agreement, you will see the Universal Application Launcher. Click Load Drivers. 2. In the opened dialog browse for an .
Configuring network If your local network has a DHCP server, a network connection will be automatically configured once our WinPE environment has been started up. Otherwise you will need to do it manually with a handy dialog by providing an IP address, a network mask, default gateway, etc. Besides with its help you can easily map network shares. To manually set up a network connection and map a network share, please do the following: 1.
Click the standard browse button [...] to browse for the required network share or manually enter a path to it; Define a letter from the pull-down list of available drive letters; Click the Connect as user button at the foot of the dialog page to specify a user name and password to access the selected network share if necessary. By clicking Disconnect Drive… you can delete an existing network share if necessary. 5.
Ping the specified host until stopped. Mark the option to ping the chosen host for indefinite time; Resolve addresses to hostnames. Mark the option to display hostnames instead of IP addresses. Number of echo requests to send. By default the utility sends 4 echo requests, which you can modify however. 2. If you need to trace a route to some network host, please select Trace route, then type in the required IP address or its name. Click Start when ready.
Log files do not contain any confidential information on the operating system settings or the user documents. Troubleshooter Here you can find answers to the most frequently asked questions that might arise while using the program. 1. I try to run an operation, but the program claims my partition is in use and suggests restarting the computer. There are a number of operations that cannot be performed while your partition is in use (or locked in other words).
5. I need to copy a partition. But when selecting a place where to make a copy, I always get a crossed circle sign no matter which partition is selected. The program enables to copy a partition only to a block of un-partitioned space. If you don’t have a block of free space on your hard disk, please delete or reduce an existing partition to accomplish the operation. 6. I cannot do anything with my USB flash drive. I get a crossed circle sign when trying to select any area on it.
Glossary Active Partition is a partition from which an x86-based computer starts up. The active partition must be a primary partition on a basic disk. If you use Windows exclusively, the active partition can be the same as the system volume. In the DOS partitioning scheme, only primary partitions can be active due to limitations of the standard bootstrap. The term backup originates from the time when the best way to protect valuable information was to store it in form of archives on external media.
Generally, the 0th sector is used for similar purposes in all existing partitioning schemes. The MBR capacity is not sufficient to contain sophisticated boot programs. That’s why the on-boot software is allowed to use the entire 0th track of the disk. For example, boot managing utilities such as LILO, GRUB and Paragon Boot Manager are located in the 0th track. Partition ID (or File system ID) is a file system identifier that is placed in the partition.
