Secure Sensitive Data with System Mechanic File Incinerator

Computers are convenient tools for storing all sorts of personal pictures, documents, and files. Gone are the days when entire rooms of our home or office were relegated to physical file storage. Digital storage has made it easy for anyone to keep everything in one portable location.

As convenient as computers may be for storing private documents, they also come with their share of hazards and hassles. For example, how do you remove something from your PC? If you think simply “deleting it” is the answer, think again.

Deleting a file from your hard drive does nothing to actually remove the information from your computer. It’s about as secure as simply removing an entry from the table of contents in a book–the text in the chapter still remains, and all you need to do is turn the pages to find it.

Emptying the Recycle Bin doesn’t work. Even formatting your hard drive doesn’t work. Chances are, all of the files you’ve ever thought you deleted are still there, and can be easily found by someone with the right tools.

Permanent data disposal

So, how do you permanently remove files from a computer? The long answer to this question involves a lengthy discussion about how computers save data to storage devices such as hard drives and memory cards and how data that’s even been overwritten a few times can be uncovered by forensic investigators using electron microscopes.

The short answer is that truly secure data removal requires a special military-designed process that overwrites and obfuscates the files using specific algorithms that thwart all methods of attempted retrieval. The good news is that System Mechanic’s Incinerator® meets and exceeds all of these requirements, putting the power of ultimate security directly on your desktop.

As one of the most popular tools in System Mechanic®, the Incinerator works similarly to the ubiquitous Windows® Operating System Recycle Bin, but as a separate desktop icon that works as a military-strength file shredder.

System Mechanic now adds the ability to also fully combine the separate desktop Incinerator’s strength into the standard Windows Recycle Bin, thus offering you the ability to empty it (delete files) using low-grade Windows techniques or to obliterate the files using iolo’s Incinerator technology. The new Incinerator for Recycle Bin also allows you to keep your desktop clean by using one icon for two jobs.

System Mechanic’s Desktop Incinerator is as easy to use as the Windows Recycle Bin. Just drag your files in, and then select Incinerate All to securely remove them.

How to start working with the Incinerator

System Mechanic includes a number of ways to start using the Incinerator tool. Here are a few quick ways to get started:

Add the Incinerator icon to your desktop

• Start System Mechanic
• In the Dashboard, click Toolbox -> Protect 
• Find Incinerator, and click it

An Incinerator icon will appear on your Windows desktop. This icon works just like the standard Windows Recycle Bin. You can drag or right-click to send files to the Incinerator just like you can with the Recycle Bin. When a file is sent to the Incinerator, it remains safely inside the Incinerator bin until you perform an incineration of the contents. To incinerate the contents, right click-on the Incinerator desktop icon and select Incinerate All.

Add incineration capability to the Windows Recycle Bin

• On your desktop, right-click the Incinerator
• Choose Incinerator Settings from the dropdown menu
• Under Windows menu options, click Add Incinerate Recycle Bin to Recycle Bin menu and click OKThe Windows Recycle Bin will now have the ability to incinerate its contents in addition to its standard deletion function. To incinerate the contents of the Recycle Bin, right-click on the Recycle Bin icon and select Incinerate Recycle Bin.

Note: Be careful when incinerating files!

Remember to use caution when incinerating files. Once something is incinerated, you won’t be able to recover it!