Burn Users Guide

Burn Users Guide http://www.thenextwave.com/burnguide.html About Burn No data security system would be complete without a way to destroy the original versions of a file after they are encrypted. Burn provides exactly that function. It is a drag-and-drop application under system 7. Files and folders dragged onto the Burn icon will be overwritten a user selected number of times with a user selected pattern, then renamed, then deleted. Both data and resource forks are deleted. A variety of options allow you to configure the application to exactly the ease of use and security you need. No matter what options you select, your trash will be far more secure than if you used Apple's built in trash capabilities. This application is not a replacement for the trash can. You should continue to drag unimportant documents and applications to the trash can. When you drag a file to the Burn icon it will be irretrievably deleted. How to Destroy a File or Folder To destroy a file or folder simply drag the desired item to the Burn icon and release the mouse button. The item will be overwritten and deleted. You can also destroy a file or folder by double clicking on the Burn application and then selecting "Delete..." from the file menu. You will be prompted to select an item for destruction. Warning: Burn does not handle alias's the same way the trash icon in the Macintosh Finder does. If you drag an alias record to Burn (or open an alias from within the application) the ORIGINAL file will be destroyed, not the alias. Erasing Free Space on a Volume Burn allows you to erase the contents of the free sectors on your disks. This option is useful if you accidentally erased a sensitive file using the regular trash can, or if a file was deleted within an application. It is very safe because what it does is create a temporary file the size of the free space on your disk, and then burns that file. Thus there is no risk of Burn wandering off into parts of your hard disk that it should not venture (well almost no risk, see the next paragraph). Warning: Disks with a damaged directory can be further damaged if you Burn the free space. Be certain your disks are healthy by running a utility program such as Apple's Disk First Aid before using Burn's Erase Free Space command. To use this feature select "Erase Free Space..." from the file menu. It will prompt you to select a volume to clean. A status dialog will show the progress of the cleaning. For maximum security you should periodically select this option. Configuring the Application The "Preferences..." option under the file menu of Burn allows you to cus…