Cleaning

These option in the Erasing preferences panel control the permanent erasure of files and unused disk space.

This option controls how many times File Buddy overwrites files chosen for permanent erasure. It is usually sufficient to leave this set to , but for extra security the number can be increased, at the cost of speed. You can choose to overwrite files once, seven times, 14 times, 21 times, 28 times, or 35 times. The Delete files after erasing checkbox controls whether File Buddy deletes the file from the file system after erasing its contents.

Erase unused disk space

This option is identical to the menu, except that it controls how many times File Buddy overwrites unused disk space. It is best to keep this set to a smaller number unless you require stringent security in erasure, as overwriting unused disk space is a lengthy operation.

Erase by overwriting with

This option controls what File Buddy overwrites files and unused disk space with. The choices are:

Zeroes

File Buddy will erase files and unused space by writing zeroes over the data areas.

Random data

File Buddy will erase files and unused space by writing random data over the data areas. File Buddy uses the system's built-in random number generator to create random data for this option.

The text below

This option enables the text entry field immediately below the pop-up menu. When erasing files and unused disk space, File Buddy will copy the text in that field into the data areas as many times as necessary.