Paragon Disk Wiper - 15 Professional User Manual

PARAGON Software GmbH

Heinrich-von-Stephan-Str. 5c  79100 Freiburg, Germany

Tel. +49 (0) 761 59018201  Fax +49 (0) 761 59018130

Internet www.paragon-software.com  Email sales@paragon-software.com

Disk Wiper™ 15 Professional

Use r Manu a l

Contents

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5

What’s New in Disk Wiper 15 ...................................................................................................................... 5

Product Components ............................................................................................................. 6

Features Overview ................................................................................................................. 6

Features ..................................................................................................................................................... 6

User Friendly Fault Minimizing Interface ................................................................................................................................ 6

Partition/Hard Disk Management Facilities ............................................................................................................................ 6

Wipe Facilities ......................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Automatization Facilities ........................................................................................................................................................ 7

Auxiliary Facilities ................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Supported Data Erasure Algorithms ............................................................................................................ 7

Supported Technologies .............................................................................................................................. 8

Supported File Systems ............................................................................................................................... 8

Supported Media ........................................................................................................................................ 8

Getting Started ...................................................................................................................... 9

System Requirements ................................................................................................................................. 9

Installation ................................................................................................................................................. 9

First Start ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Building Recovery Media ............................................................................................................................ 11

Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery Media ............................................................................................. 11

Startup .................................................................................................................................................................................. 11

Boot menu ............................................................................................................................................................................ 12

Booting from the WinPE Recovery Media ................................................................................................... 14

Startup .................................................................................................................................................................................. 14

Basic Concepts ..................................................................................................................... 15

Data Sanitization........................................................................................................................................ 15

Data Security Standards ............................................................................................................................. 16

Scheduling ................................................................................................................................................. 17

Windows Components ........................................................................................................ 17

Interface Overview .................................................................................................................................... 17

General Layout ...................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Tool Button ........................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Ribbon Panel ......................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Virtual Operations Bar .......................................................................................................................................................... 19

Express Mode Button ........................................................................................................................................................... 19

Disk Map ............................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Disk and Partitions List .......................................................................................................................................................... 20

Context-sensitive Menu ........................................................................................................................................................ 21

Properties Panel .................................................................................................................................................................... 21

Status Bar .............................................................................................................................................................................. 22

Settings Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 22

Application Section ............................................................................................................................................................... 23

Partitioning Section .............................................................................................................................................................. 23

Wipe Section ......................................................................................................................................................................... 25

E-mail Notifications and Logging Section ............................................................................................................................. 26

Viewing Disk Properties ............................................................................................................................. 28

Partition Management ............................................................................................................................... 28

Basic Partitioning Operations ............................................................................................................................................... 28

Hard Disk Management ............................................................................................................................. 37

Updating MBR ....................................................................................................................................................................... 37

Wipe Tasks ................................................................................................................................................ 37

Task Scheduling ......................................................................................................................................... 41

Setting a Timetable ............................................................................................................................................................... 41

Managing Tasks .................................................................................................................................................................... 42

Creating a Scheduled Task .................................................................................................................................................... 44

Scripting .................................................................................................................................................... 44

Extra Functionality ..................................................................................................................................... 46

View Partition/Hard Disk Properties ..................................................................................................................................... 46

File Transfer Wizard .............................................................................................................................................................. 47

Mount Partition .................................................................................................................................................................... 48

Test Surface .......................................................................................................................................................................... 49

Check File System Integrity ................................................................................................................................................... 50

Check Recovery Discs ............................................................................................................................................................ 50

Edit/View Sectors .................................................................................................................................................................. 51

Send Log Files ........................................................................................................................................................................ 52

View Logs .............................................................................................................................................................................. 53

Typical Scenarios ................................................................................................................. 54

Hard Disk Utilization .................................................................................................................................. 54

Extra Scenarios for WinPE .......................................................................................................................... 56

Adding specific drivers .......................................................................................................................................................... 56

Configuring network ............................................................................................................................................................. 58

Saving log files ....................................................................................................................................................................... 60

How to Work with Bitlocked Volumes ........................................................................................................ 61

In Windows ........................................................................................................................................................................... 62

In WinPE ................................................................................................................................................................................ 63

Troubleshooter .................................................................................................................... 65

Glossary ............................................................................................................................... 66

Our company is constantly releasing new versions and updates to its software, that's why images shown in this manual may be different from what you see on your screen.

Introduction

Data security nowadays is the burning issue not only for companies and government agencies, but rank and file people as well. Our personality is now fully embedded in computer technology. It is computer you apply to when at work, it is also computer you use at home for entertainment or as a reservoir for containing some valuable data such as personal

correspondence, banking account information, credit card numbers, financial records, whatever… It is obvious that this

kind of data should in no way be available to others. That is why, when disposing of a storage device (a hard disk or a flash memory drive), the crucial thing is to make sure it does not contain any information, because simple deletion, or even reformatting do not guarantee data security at all. To do that, you need a specially designed tool.

Paragon Disk Wiper™ 15 Professional is a fast, convenient and reliable solution providing irreversible destruction of data on separate partitions or entire hard disks (IDE, SCSI, SATA, USB, etc.) as well as any type of flash memory devices.

In this manual you will find the answers to many of the technical questions, which might arise while using the program.

What’s New in Disk Wiper 15

 Wiping SSD (Solid State Drive). As you know SSD stores data differently from hard disks, thus existing disk

sanitization techniques originally used for HDDs don't work on SSDs because the internal architecture of an SSD is very different from that of a hard disk. Reliable SSD sanitization requires built-in, verifiable sanitize operations. After some research on the issue, our company has improved our disk wiping technology and can now guarantee irreversible secure data destruction on SSD storage devices.

 Wipe stamp option. You can specify to add to the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the wiped storage device

information on the used wipe program, algorithm, device serial number, wipe status, system ID (obtained through WMI), etc. Thus when attempting to boot from this storage, you’ll be notified how and when this storage has been wiped. Please note this option is only available for wiping of entire disks.

 BitLocker support. Our product allows wiping unlocked volumes encrypted by BitLocker.  Wiping Mac OS volumes. With the Linux based recovery environment, you can start up a Mac computer to

irreversible destroy data it contains.

 Embedded Recovery Media Builder (RMB) 3.0. Instead of two utilities downloaded from Paragon's website

(BMB and RMB), the new RMB 3.0 is now embedded into the product. Combining the best of the two utilities, it can boast more options, usability, and stability:

- Prepares Linux or WinPE-based bootable environment on a USB thumb drive or in an ISO image;

- Doesn’t obligatory require Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) or Automated Installation Kit

(WAIK) on Windows 7 and later platforms;

- Can build WinPE-based media on Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 if there’s WAIK installed in the system;

- Allows injecting additional drivers for storage devices, network controllers, USB controllers, or system

during setup;

- Enables to set up a network connection with a pre-mounted network share during setup;

- Prepares hybrid (both, uEFI and BIOS compatible) 64-bit recovery environment on flash or in an ISO image.

 Windows 8.1 support  New user-friendly interface that is fully compatible with the Windows 8 streamlined, tile-oriented interface:

- Metro-style Express Launcher;

- Ribbon-based full scale launcher.

GUI of the Linux recovery environment has also been uplifted.

Product Components

In order to cope with different tasks, the product contains several components:

 Windows based set of utilities is the crucial part of the product. With the help of an easy to use launcher you

may find and run tasks of any complexity in the field of data and system protection, hard disk partitioning and cloning, etc.

 Linux/DOS based recovery environment is a multi-platform bootable media that enables to run utilities under

Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. Both platforms have their strong sides, for instance Linux can boast support of FireWire (i.e. IEEE1394) or USB devices. It enables to burn CD/DVD discs. However there can be some difficulties with detecting new hardware. DOS in its turn has no problems of that kind but is limited in features. The Linux/DOS recovery environment requires no installation and can be of great help when the system fails to boot. Besides it offers a Windows XP like environment.

 WinPE based recovery environment. Especially for keen followers of Windows, our product offers the option to

prepare a WinPE based bootable media. Unlike the Linux/DOS recovery environment it can boast an excellent hardware support and the same interface as the Windows version can. However its system requirements are much tougher.

Features Overview

This chapter dwells upon key benefits and technical highlights of the product.

Features

Let us list some of the features:

User Friendly Fault Minimizing Interface

 Graphical representation of the data to gain a better understanding.  A handy Launcher to easily find and run the required tasks.  Comprehensive wizards to simplify even the most complex operations.  A context sensitive hint system for all functions of the program.  Previewing the resulting layout of hard disks before actually executing operations (so-called virtual

operations).

Partition/Hard Disk Management Facilities

 Basic functions for initializing, partitioning and formatting hard disks (create, format, delete). Instead of the

standard Windows disk tools, the program supports all popular file systems.

 Mount a partition (assign a drive letter) of any file system type to make it available for your operating system.

Scheduling is only available for the Windows installation of the program.

Boot Corrector is only available for the bootable recovery environment.

Wipe Facilities

 Data wiping to successfully destroy all on-disk information including the standard bootstrap code and other

system service structures.

 Free space clearing to destroy any remnants of deleted files/directories left on disk without affecting the used

data.

Automatization Facilities

 Task scheduling to automate routine operations. It can be particularly effective when you have to repeat a

sequence of actions on a regular basis.

 Scripting to make the program create a script of any set of operations you need. Besides support of all

operations available in the interactive mode, the unattended mode provides some additional features, such as conditional execution, subroutines, repeatable iterations, disk/partition properties analysis, errors management, etc.

Auxiliary Facilities

 File Transfer Wizard to make such operations as transferring of files/directories or burning of them to CD/DVD

as easy and convenient as possible. Providing access to Paragon backups as regular folders, it may also help to replace corrupted data from a previously created image in case of an operating system failure.

 Network Configuration Wizard to establish a network connection on a bootable recovery media either to save a

backup of a partition/hard disk or just several files on a network computer or retrieve a previously made backup from a network computer for recovery purposes.

 Boot Corrector to fix most of the system boot problems that can be a result of a human factor, program error or

a boot virus activity.

Supported Data Erasure Algorithms

 US DoD 5220.22-M  US Navy standards NAVSO P-5239-26  British HMG Infosec Standard No.5  German VSItR Standard  Australian ASCI 33  Russian GOST R 50739-95  Peter Gutmann's algorithm  Bruce Schneier's algorithm  Paragon's algorithm

To know more on the subject, please consult the Data Security Standards section.

Unfortunately, support of non-Roman characters for the HFS+ file system is unavailable at the moment. The company is about to implement it in the nearest future.

 Custom algorithm

Supported Technologies

Along with using innovative technologies from outside, Paragon has developed a number of its own original technologies that make its products unique and attractive for customers:

 Paragon UFSD™ technology to browse partitions of any file system including hidden and unmounted, modify

and copy files and folders, etc.

 Paragon BTE™ technology to set tasks for execution during the system restart, thus saving from the need to use

a bootable media when modifying system partitions.

 Microsoft Dynamic Disk (simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, RAID-5) to offer more management flexibility

without the partition limitation of basic disks. Dynamic storage can be particularly beneficial for large-scale businesses when dealing with many physical hard disks involving complex setup.

 GUID Partition Table (GPT). It is the next generation of a hard disk partitioning scheme developed to lift

restrictions of the old MBR. GPT disks are now supported by Windows Vista/7, Server 2008, Mac OS X and Linux.

Supported File Systems

 Full read/write access to FAT16/FAT32 partitions.  Full read/write access to NTFS (Basic Disks) under Windows, Linux and PTS DOS. Compressed NTFS files are also

supported.

 Full read/write access to Ext2FS/Ext3FS/Ext4FS partitions.  Limited read/write access to Apple HFS+ partitions.

Supported Media

 Support of both MBR and GPT hard disks (2.2TB+ disks included)  IDE, SCSI and SATA hard disks  SSD (Solid State Drive)  AFD (Advanced Format Drive)  Non-512B sector size drives  CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD+R double layer and also Blu-ray discs  FireWire (i.e. IEEE1394), USB 1.0, USB 2.0, USB 3.0 hard disks  PC card storage devices (MBR and GPT flash memory, etc.)

During the installation additional free space (up to 1GB) will be required.

In case there is some previous version of the program installed on the computer, the program will offer the user to uninstall it first.

Getting Started

In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to get the product ready to use.

System Requirements

For the Windows installation package

 Windows XP SP3  Windows Vista  Windows 7  Windows 8  Windows 8.1

For the Linux bootable environment

 Intel Pentium CPU or its equivalent, with 300 MHz processor clock speed  256 MB of RAM  SVGA video adapter and monitor  Keyboard  Mouse

For the WinPE bootable environment

 Intel Pentium III CPU or its equivalent, with 1000 MHz processor clock speed  At least 1 GB of RAM  SVGA video adapter and monitor  Keyboard  Mouse

Additional requirements

 Network card to send/retrieve data to/from a network computer  Recordable CD/DVD drive to burn data to compact discs  External USB hard drive to store data.

Installation

Before the installation, please make sure the systems requirements are met. If everything is OK, please do the following to install the product:

Do not install the program on network drives. Do not use Terminal Server sessions to install and run the program. In both cases, the program functionality will be limited.

The program provides wide opportunities in the field of hard disk structure modification, so just to be on the safe side, please make a backup of your data before carrying out any operation.

1. Click on the *.MSI file. This application will guide you through the process of the program installation. The setup

utility is compiled with the InstallShield SDK, hence it contains the standard user interface and set of installation steps.

2. The Welcome page will inform that the application is being installed. Click Next to continue.

3. Please Read Paragon License Agreement carefully and then select the appropriate option to accept. Otherwise

you won’t be able to proceed with the installation. By clicking the Print button, the license agreement may also be printed out.

4. Provide your product key and serial number.

5. On the Customer Information page you are to provide the standard customer information, i.e. a user name and

an organization. Besides you need to decide whether to make the program available for all users of this computer (if several) or only for the current one.

6. On the next page, click Change to install the utility to a different location (by default C:\Program Files\Paragon

Software\ Paragon Disk Wiper 15). Otherwise click Next to continue.

7. On the Ready to Install the Program page click Install to start the installation or Back to return to any of the

previous pages and modify the installation settings.

8. The Final page reports the end of the setup process. Click Finish to complete the wizard.

First Start

To start Paragon Disk Wiper 15 under Windows, please click the Windows Start button and then select Programs > Paragon Disk Wiper ™ 15 > Paragon Disk Wiper™.

The first component that will be displayed is called the Express Launcher. Thanks to a well thought-out categorization and hint system, it provides quick and easy access to wizards and utilities that we consider worth using on a regular

basis. With its help you can also start up the traditional launcher, the help system or go to the program’s home page.

To know more on how to handle the product’s interface and accomplish typical operations,

please consult the Windows Components chapter.

Please use Recovery Media Builder to prepare Paragon's recovery environments on CD/DVD, flash, or in an ISO-image.

To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set up to boot from CD/USB first.

Building Recovery Media

WinPE- and/or Linux-based recovery environments should be prepared on-site with Paragon’s Recovery Media Builder. To know more on the subject, please consult documentation that comes with this utility.

Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery Media

The Linux/DOS recovery environment can be used to boot your computer into Linux or PTS DOS to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. It also has the PTS DOS safe mode, which may help in a number of nonstandard situations such as interfering hardware settings or serious problems on the hardware level. In this case, only basic files and drivers (such as hard disk drivers, a monitor driver, and a keyboard driver) will be loaded.

Startup

To start working with the Linux/DOS recovery environment, please take the following steps:

1. Start up the computer from our Linux/DOS recovery media.

2. Launch a boot mode you need (Normal, Safe, Low-Graphics Safe) in the Boot menu.

By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.

3. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the right

choice.

4. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject.

Boot menu

32-bit environment

 Normal Mode. Boot into the Linux normal mode. This mode uses the full set of drivers (recommended);  Safe Mode. Boot into the PTS DOS mode. This mode can be used as an alternative of the Linux normal mode if it

fails to work properly;

 Low-Graphics Safe Mode. Boot into the PTS DOS safe mode. In this case, only the minimal set of drivers will be

included, like hard disk, monitor, and keyboard drivers. This mode has simple graphics and a simple menu;

 Floppy Disk. Reboot the computer from a system floppy disk;  Hard Disk 0. Boot from the primary hard disk;  Find OS(s) on your hard disks. The program will scan hard disks of your computer to find any bootable operating

system.

64-bit environment

fails to work properly;

While working with the recovery environment you might experience some inconvenience caused by possible video artifacts. It is just a result of changing video modes and in no way will affect the program functionality. If this is the case, please wait a bit and everything will be OK.

 Reboot. Restart the computer.  Power off. Shut down the computer.

Normal Mode

When the Normal mode is selected, the Linux launch menu appears:

 Wipe Wizard (enables to destroy all on-disk information or only remnants of deleted files/directories);  File Transfer Wizard (allows coping files/folders to another disk or a partition as well as recording them to

CD/DVD);

 Boot Corrector (helps to correct the Windows System Registry without Windows being loaded);  Log Saver (helps to collect and send the necessary log files to the Technical Support);

 Command Line (allows experienced users to execute any operation);  Reboot the computer;  Power off the computer.

To move within the menu, please use the arrow keys of the computer keyboard.

Safe Mode

When the Safe mode is selected, the PTS DOS launch menu appears. It has nearly the same functionality as for the Normal mode except for the Network Configurator and Log Saver commands. Besides due to certain limitations of the PTS DOS environment, there is no possibility to burn CD/DVD discs.

Please use Recovery Media Builder to prepare Paragon's recovery environments on CD/DVD, flash, or in an ISO-image.

To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set up to boot from CD/USB first.

Low Graphics Safe Mode

When the Low Graphics mode is selected, the PTS DOS launch menu appears. It has the same functionality and looks similar to the Safe mode but graphically simpler.

Booting from the WinPE Recovery Media

The WinPE recovery environment can be a real alternative to the Linux/DOS recovery environment. Providing nearly the same level of functionality it offers an excellent hardware support and the same interface as the Windows version does.

Startup

To start working with the WinPE recovery environment, please take the following steps:

1. Start up the computer from the WinPE recovery media.

2. Once it has been loaded, you will see the Universal Application Launcher. In general it enables to run

components of the product, load drivers for undefined hardware or establish a network connection.

The WinPE based recovery environment offers excellent hardware support. However in

case it doesn’t have a driver for your disk controller, your hard disks will be unavailable.

Please consult the Adding specific drivers scenario to know how to tackle this issue.

3. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the right

choice.

4. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject.

Basic Concepts

This chapter explains terms and ideas that show how the program works. To understand these helps to obtain a general notion of the operation performance and makes it easier for the user to operate the program.

Data Sanitization

Data security is a two-sided problem. It is to be made clear, that providing confidentiality implies not only information to be stored properly, but also be destroyed according to certain rules. The first step to protecting yourself is to know exactly which security precautions work and which do not.

Many people believe the misconception that repartitioning a disk will result in complete destruction of its contents. Actually that is not quite so. Repartitioning the drive only alters references to partitions in the Partition Table, leaving all file data intact. In fact, there are a number of programs available to successfully recover previously deleted partitions.

Formatting a drive also does not guarantee data destruction. Formatting procedure implies modification of the Master File Table (MFT) that keeps track of where file contents are stored on the disk and verification of each sector for consistency. Even a low-level format does not actually erase the file contents for good, since they can still be resurrected from their deleted state with minimal effort by using the popular today Magnetic Force Microscopy technology.

The only way to make sure that all the data has been erased from a hard drive is to overwrite all on-disk sectors with random patterns of ones and zeros. Although this sounds complex, there is an easy way to do this.

The process of deliberately, irreversibly removing or destroying the data stored on a memory device (magnetic disks, flash memory drives, etc.) is generally known as Data Sanitization. A device that has been sanitized has no usable residual data and even advanced forensic tools should not ever be able to recover it, thus providing maximum level of security.

Data Security Standards

To irreversibly destroy all on-disk information there have been developed a number of disk sanitizing standards. They are distinguished by wiping patterns and number of passes:

1. US DoD 5220.22-M. US Department of Defense recommends to overwrite all addressable locations with a

character, its complement and then a random character. Finally, the target data area is to be verified;

2. US Navy standards NAVSO P-5239-26.  NAVSO P-5239-26 for RLL encoded drives. At first to write the fixed value (0xffffffff) to the target data area,

then the fixed value (0x27ffffff), and then random values. Finally, the target data area is to be verified;

 NAVSO P-5239-26 for MFM encoded drives. At first to write the fixed value (0xffffffff) to the target data

area, then the fixed value (0xbfffffff), and then random values. Finally, the target data area is to be verified;

3. British HMG Infosec Standard No.5. At first to write a single character pattern, then its complement and then a

random character. Finally, the target data area is to be verified;

4. German VSItR Standard. Overwrite the deleted information 7 times, consistently filling it with the following

patterns: 0x00, 0xFF, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xAA. Finally, the target data area is to be verified;

5. Australian ASCI 33. Overwrite with a character (C), then verify. Overwrite with –C (the first pass character’s

inverse), then verify again. Overwrite everything with both C and –C once again but without verification. Fill everything with random characters;

6. Russian GOST R 50739-95. Destroy information by a single pass with writing random characters into each sector

byte;

7. Peter Gutmann's algorithm. A whopping 35 passes, with 27 random-order passes using specific patterns

combined with eight passes using random patterns;

8. Bruce Schneier's algorithm. Two passes of specific patterns followed by five passes using a cryptographically

secure pseudo-random sequence;

9. Paragon's algorithm.  Overwrite each sector with a forcefully randomized 512-byte string, new for each sector, using CSPRNG

(cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generator);

 Overwrite each erased sector with its complement;  Overwrite each sector with a 512-byte string (CSPRNG), again forcefully randomized and different from the

first pass, and new for each sector;

 Fill each erased sector with 0xAA value. Finally, the target data area is to be verified.

Military and government standards always require 100 percent residual data verification. It is necessary to make sure that the operation has been properly accomplished. Besides corrupted sectors discovered during the operation are to be logged to keep the user informed, since these sectors may contain classified information.

The list of supported military and government standards may vary for your product. Anyway you’ve always got the possibility to create a customized algorithm, defining up to 4 wiping patterns, number of passes for each wiping pattern and for the group of patterns, thus providing the maximum possible security level.

Scheduling

The automation of operations is particularly effective when you have to repeat a sequence of actions on a regular basis. For example, developing a specific project on a day-to-day basis and having to make a backup every evening so as not to lose the valuable data, you will really appreciate, when this kind of routine operations will be carried out automatically without your participation.

Another aspect of any automation process is that it allows an optimization of your computer’s work-load. This is especially important when operations require a considerable amount of computer resources – processor time, memory and more. A number of tasks, which can decrease the performance, can be run during the night or whenever the computer has the least work-load to perform.

The program has a special tool for scheduling. You can set out a timetable for any operation and it will start at a specified time without interrupting your current activity.

Windows Components

In the given section you can find all the information necessary to successfully work with the Windows version of the product.

Interface Overview

This chapter introduces the graphical interface of the program. The design of the interface precludes any mistake being made on the part of the user. Most operations are performed through the system of wizards. Buttons and menus are accompanied by easy understandable icons. Nevertheless, any problems that might occur while managing the program can be tackled by reading this very chapter.

General Layout

When you start the program, the first component that is displayed is called the Launcher. It enables to run wizards and dialogs, to specify program settings, to visualize the operating environment and the hard disk configuration.

The Launcher’s window can be conditionally subdivided into several sections that differ in their purpose and functionality:

1. Tool Button

2. Ribbon Panel

3. Virtual Operations Bar

4. Express Mode Button

5. Disk Map

6. Disk and Partitions List

7. Context-sensitive Menu

8. Properties Panel

9. Status Bar

A number of panels offer similar functionality with a synchronized layout. The program enables to conceal some of them to simplify the interface management.

Tool Button

By clicking on this button the user can:

 Launch auxiliary wizards,  Get access to the program settings,  Collect and send a log files package to the Support Team,  Go to Paragon’s website to download a free update, register the product, visit Paragon’s Knowledge Base, etc.

If you’d like to hide all ribbon tabs, click on the arrow button at the right top corner of the

program window.

BUTTON

FUNCTIONALITY

Cancel the last virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations

Cancel the last undo virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations

Display the List of Pending Operations

Launch the real execution of virtual operations

Cancel all virtual operations on the List of Pending Operations

Generate a script out of all pending operations

Schedule pending operations

Virtual mode is an effective way of protection from any troubles, since no operations will be executed until clicking the Apply button for confirmation, thus giving a second chance to weigh all pros and cons of this or that particular operation. The program politely reminds the user that there are unsaved changes by showing the following window:

Ribbon Panel

An area across the top of the program’s window is called the Ribbon Panel. It makes almost all the product capabilities

available to the user in a single place. A Ribbon Tab is an area on the panel that contains buttons organized in groups by functionality. Each button corresponds to a certain program wizard or dialog.

Virtual Operations Bar

The program supports previewing the resulting layout of hard disks before actually executing operations (so-called virtual mode of execution). In fact, when the virtual mode is enabled, the program does not accomplish operations immediately, but places them on the List of Pending Operations for later execution.

The Virtual Operations Bar enables to manage pending operations.

Express Mode Button

By clicking on this button the user can switch to the express mode of operation at any time.

Disk Map

As the name infers, the Disk Map displays the layout of physical and logical disks. Physical disks are represented with rectangle bars that contain small-sized bars. These small-sized bars represent logical disks. Their color depends on the file system of the appropriate partition. By looking at the size of the bar’s shaded area it is possible to estimate the used disk space. For the selected at the moment object there’s the possibility to call a context-sensitive popup menu with available operations.

Since the Disk Map and the Disk and Partitions List have the same purpose, the user is allowed to extend only one at the moment by using a corresponding arrow button.

Large-sized bars display the following information about physical disks:

 Type (basic or dynamic MBR/GPT),  Manufacturer,  Model.

Small-sized bars display the following information about logical disks and blocks of free space:

 Volume label (if exists),  Drive letter,  Total size,  File system.

The Disk Map is synchronized with the Context-sensitive Menu and the Properties Panel. Thus by selecting a disk on the map, the two will automatically display detailed information on it. To know more on the subject, please consult the

Viewing Disk Properties chapter.

Disk and Partitions List

The Disk and Partitions List is another helpful tool that helps to get a clear-cut picture on the current state of the system hard disks and partitions. All objects (disks, partitions, or blocks of free space) on the list are sorted according to their starting position. For every item there is the possibility to call a context-sensitive popup menu with available operations.

The Disk and Partitions List provides detailed information on all hard disks and partitions found in the system including the following properties:

Since the Disk Map and the Disk and Partitions List have the same purpose, the user is allowed to extend only one at the moment by using a corresponding arrow button.

- Name,

- Volume label (if exists),

- Drive letter,

- File system type,

- Volume size,

- Amount of used and unused (free) space,

- Active/Inactive attribute,

- Hidden/Unhidden attribute.

The Disk and Partitions List is synchronized with the Context-sensitive Menu and the Properties Panel. Thus by selecting a disk on the list, the two will automatically display detailed information on it. To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Disk Properties chapter.

Context-sensitive Menu

The Context-sensitive Menu shows a list of operations available for an object (disk, partition, or block of free space) selected either on the Disk Map or the Disk and Partitions List. If you click a corresponding record the appropriate wizard or dialog will be started. All default values for the operation parameters will correspond to the object’s settings. If there too many items on the list, type in the first word of the required command in the Search commands field to filter the list.

Properties Panel

The Properties Panel provides information on the object (disk, partition, or block of free space) selected either on the

Disk Map or the Disk and Partitions List.

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Paragon Disk Wiper - 15 Professional User Manual

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