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| Why "wipe" makes the new version of Cipher.exe |
| Windows 2000 includes a feature called Encrypting File System (EFS) that can protect your files. |
| While you encrypt through a good user interface, many network administrators prefer using the |
| command-line utility Cipher.exe. |
| Microsoft recently updated Cipher.exe. The latest version contains a new "wipe" feature, which |
| allows you to overwrite the deallocated clusters and thus really delete a file. (When you delete a |
| file with Windows Explorer or through the command prompt, the file isn't physically deleted. The |
| file is just marked as deleted, and the clusters are deallocated and made free. (This is also the |
| reason why you can still undelete some files.) |
| The new wipe feature overwrites deallocated clusters, erasing the previous information and making |
| undelete impossible. This is especially important when using EFS because EFS backs up every file |
| before encrypting it. If the file is successfully encrypted, the backup copy is deleted. The new |
| version of Cipher.exe ensures that no one can recover the deleted backup copy. (The command for |
| Download Cipher.exe on Microsoft's Web site. While you're there, be sure to read the Cipher.exe |
| http://microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/tools/tools/cipher.asp |
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