INTERNET TRACE DESTRUCTOR
What's It Do?
It deletes traces of your surfing automatically, prevents unwanted
changes to your homepage, removes unwanted data from your hard drive, and
destroys 97 work traces. It deletes history, logs, cache, temporary traces
from AOL, T-Online, Kazaa, diverse versions of Media Player, Google
Toolbar, ICQ, etc. It provides one-click destruction, cookie management,
Windows XP control, etc. Compatible with Windows 98/ME/2K/XP.
Does It Do What It Promises?
Reviewer 1. Oh yeah, and then some.
Reviewer 2. Yes.
Reviewer 3. Yes. It actually provided the means to destroy many
more Internet traces than I expected it would. In addition to traces of
surfing, such as temporary Internet files and cookies, Kazaa, ICQ, WinAmp
and RealPlayer data can be deleted. The level of deletion is
user-definable also, going all the way up to Department of Defense
standards and beyond.
Was It Easy to Install?
Reviewer 1. No problems.
Reviewer 2. Yes.
Reviewer 3. Yes.
Good Points?
Reviewer 1. This thing wipes out everything it says it does, and
really cleans up as well so no one can ever recover it. It allows the
setting of the 'scrub' process so as to remove every trace of the deleted
data.
Reviewer 2. It has an easy-to-use interface that is basically a
long list the user may want to remove from his system. Once the options
are set up the first time, you don't have to go back; instead, all you
need do is click the "One-Click Destruction" icon. Many of the destructor
options have detailed explanations, at least enough for most users to
understand what will be deleted and why. The inclusion of the file
shredder was a nice bonus and also easy to use.
Reviewer 3. The ability to remove all traces of Internet surfing
and program access such as the last-accessed MS Office documents. The
ability to turn off MS "Phone Home" functions in Windows XP. Even though
these can be done in XP itself, it's nice to have them gathered under a
single heading in this application. Many of the items have a "Details"
link that gives further information on what the item is. This is much more
efficient than searching through a help file.
Weak Points?
Reviewer 1. It had trouble with the recycle bin on my third (E:\)
partition; it appeared to be in a loop for well over five minutes so I
stopped it. It said it couldn't access the recycle bin on E:\ - then why
was it in an infinite loop? It should exit on error and either stop or go
to the next event. All it was doing, apparently, was thrashing my disk. On
repeated attempts it does finally finish, but this operation takes quite a
while. It seems that after running this, the system needs to be
restarted.There is no log file of what One-Click Destruction did to
reference after it's done. If it makes one now it's a secret and it gives
no access to it. It truly leaves no trace.
Reviewer 2. Although there are retails about many of the options,
not all options have details. I was hesitant to include destruction of
data where the details did not exist.
Reviewer 3. Although not truly a weak point, users should be aware
that the highest level of data destruction can be very time consuming.
This is due to the multiple overwrite passes that are made to provide the
assurance that data cannot be read from disk.
Other Comments?
Reviewer 1. Watch for the 'One-Click Destruction' tool, it runs
without warnings. Then its completion message flashes on the screen for a
second and everything goes away. You really should set up what you want
the program to do with the main program, then test it a few times before
invoking that feature, It seems to put windows into an odd state where, if
I try to run it again, it has trouble (again) with the recycle bins (all)
with a 203 error code and a request to log back onto Windows. The desktop
get weird as well while it's running, like the video adaptor is put into
its lowest color setting and fonts appear larger and grainy. It really
needs to have the system restarted after use.
Reviewer 2. There was a 30-day limit on how far back temporary
files could be kept. I didn't see the need for this limitation. I liked
the notification of material unsuitable for young audiences, but there is
no built-in way to lock down the deletion of this material should a parent
wish to do so and if they wanted to see where their children are surfing.
Reviewer 3. I think this would be a good application for those who
work with sensitive data, share a computer, or are just concerned with
being able to preserve their privacy.
Will You Continue To Use It?
Reviewer 1. No, this is way too scary. It does clean a lot of things and
for people who do no maintenance, then this might be useful; but for a
person who doesn't even do maintenance, this might be a little
overwhelming to setup. Too much power, not enough control.
Reviewer 2. Yes.
Reviewer 3. Yes.
Our Panel Members used Windows 98 SE and Windows Home/Pro in evaluating
this product.
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