O&O SafeErase 8 gains smart Explorer integration

Berlin developer O&O Software has unveiled O&O SafeErase Professional 8 ($29.95), a new edition of its commercial secure deletion tool.

Version 8 delivers enhanced Explorer integration. If you spot files or folders you need to delete permanently, right-click them, select SafeErase, and there’s no waiting for the full program to load: a simple dialog now quickly appears with the core options you need.

The program doesn’t stop there. Right-click, drag and drop files from one folder to another and a "Securely Move" option appears. Choose this and SafeErase copies your files to their new location, then securely wipes the originals.

SafeErase’s scanning function -- where the program highlights potentially sensitive files which could be undeleted -- has been redesigned with a brand new interface.

Elsewhere, improved management of reports and deletion lists simplifies operations, and there are assorted other minor fixes and enhancements on offer.

This didn’t run all entirely smoothly in our first tests. In particular, the scanning module warned that "Mozilla Firefox 32 is not yet supported by this version of OO SafeErase", and for some reason repeated that message five times. It’s good to see O&O Software is paying such close attention to a browser that it’ll check its code with every new browser version, but they really need to do this within days, not weeks.

O&O Software has told us that the issue will be fixed "right away", though, so hopefully it won’t be a problem for long. And elsewhere the program works well, securely wiping everything from individual files to free space, partitions and complete hard drives with the absolute minimum of hassle.

A 30-day trial of O&O SafeErase Professional 8 is available now. Please note, the modules to wipe free space and "entire computer" aren’t available in the trial build.