File Utilities for DOS (2 of 2)

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Also see: Locate and other file finders that include a "delete found files" option; Directory Utils page for directory deletion utils.


ENHANCED FILE DELETE UTILS


1. TDEL- Sophisticated file deletion.

* * * * [updated 08-11-99]

This is a nicely enhanced del replacement. Tdel can modify your COMMAND.COM file to use Tdel rather than DOS's Del. Includes a great series of help screens. Author:Tsahi Chitin (1999)

Usage: TDEL name_1 [...name_n] [options (below)] _Universal Wildcards supported!
~~~~~~
Basic Parameters:                        Advanced Parameters:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/C  » Confirm deletion (each file)       +     » Same as /S, but local
/CA » Confirm if *.* specified           @file » Signifies script file
/I  » Show percents and files left       /D   » How to treat empty directories
/P  » Pause after each full screen       /FS:  » Delete until x KB free space
/Q  » Quiet mode (no writing to screen)  /SF:  » Delete until x KB freed
/S  » Recurse sub-directories            /NF   » Process newer files first
/Y  » Assume YES on all queries          /OF   » Process older files first
                                         /YES  » Override the /NO: filter
Filters:                                 /NEW  » Ignore SET and prior parameters
~~~~~~~~                                 /W[n] » Wipe: Prevent from recovering
/A:  » File attributes to process        /TEST » Simulate command (no REAL del)
/DT: » Specify date range to process     /LOG[:] » Report deleted file-names
/FN: » Specify files group to process    /NoPRND » Disable the PARANOID feature
/NO: » Delete EXCEPT specified           /NoSHOW » Don't show activated switches
/SZ: » Specify size range to process     /NoTREE » Do not update tree-info files
/DAYS: » Del files by their age (days)   /INSTALL » Replace DEL command by TDel

08-11-99: New in v2.67/2.68 (8-99): Lots of enhancements and fixes; see docs.

download tdel268.zip (95K)


2. DELEN -Enhanced delete with extended wildcards.

* * * *

Written by: Vesa Kolhinen; this program is quite similar to wipevk (same author).

DELEN file... [/A:[-]AHRS] [/NPQSTXYZ] [/! | /E files... /I files...]
..............[@|%][name]] [/4[:dfile] [/[dts-ranges]]
/A: Attribute select../X: removes empty subdirectories
/N: Nothing.........../Y: answers "Yes" to all prompts
/P: Prompt............/Z: Zap: removes also protected files
/Q: Quiet............./E: Exclude following files
/S: Subdirectories..../I: Include following files
/T: Total............./!: delete all except following files
[@|%][name]....Reads parameters from a file or from an environment variable.
/4[:dfile].....4DOS: Removes also 4DOS file descriptions from "dfile".
...............Default file name is "descript.ion".
/[dts-ranges]..Specifies date, time or size range according to which
...............files are chosen. Format is: /[{type}{begin},{end}].

v1.02 update: 4DOS bug with /S and /X options is corrected.
v1.03 update: minor output bug fixed

download delen103.zip (27K)


MDEL- Delete multiple specific or grouped files with one command. Exclusion supported.

unrated [added 08-19-99]

"MDEL is a powerful program that allows you to quickly delete a lot of files. You can separate all of the files with commas or semicolons to be deleted; MDEL *.EXE,*.COM, will delete all .EXE and .COM files. You can also use a second optional parameter to exclude files from being deleted." Win32 version also available on Home Page. Author: Brian Friesen (1999)

download mdel16.zip (12K)

Also see MCOPY and MMOVE.


LDEL- DEL command supports Win9x long file names under plain DOS (for Win9x).

See extended description.


SECURE FILE WIPING UTILS

Also see: TDEL


1. Scorch- Effective file wiper also can wipe WIN31 swap file.

* * * * *

Scorch is an excellent command-line file wiper with some unique traits:

Notes:

Scorch's command line syntax requires that you enclose the filespec in square brackets, e.g.,

scorch [myfile.txt]

Shareware status: "This program is shareware. Anyone may use it indefinitely on a single computer for their own private and personal use for free.... If the software is used professionally, or in the course of a business (including the business of government, civil service, or security services), or for the purposes of commerce, then a registration fee must be paid."

download scorch.zip (14K v.1.01)


2. Wipevk- Wipes files and scrambles deleted file names.

* * * *

Another good file wiper that also supports extended wildcards.

" If no other instructions are given, file is written over once by null characters....Then the length of file is truncated to zero and it is renamed using random name. Renaming is repeated as many times as the wiping and a new random name is used each time. The date of the file is then changed to "null date", January 1 1980. Finally the file is removed from the directory." Author: Vesa Kolhinen.

WIPE file... [/A:[-]AHRS] [/NPQSTXYZ] [/! | /E files... /I files...]
[/M[NQWGF] /V"xxx" /Rn /C"command";"off";"on"]
[@|%][name] [/4[:dfile] [/[dts-ranges]]
file... Specifies one or more files to be deleted. Wildcards are allowed.
/A:..Attribute select./T..Total
/C ..Command off/on.../V..overwriting Values
/M ..wiping Mode....../X..removes empty subdirectories
/N ..Nothing........../Y..answers "Yes" to all prompts
/P ..Prompt.........../Z..Zap: removes also protected files
/Q ..Quiet............/E..Exclude following files
/R ..Repeat.........../I..Include following files
/S ..Subdirectories.../!..delete all except following files
[@|%][name]...Reads parameters from a file or from an environment variable.
/4[:dfile]....4DOS: Removes also 4DOS file descriptions from "dfile".
/[dts-ranges].Specifies date, time or size range according to which files are chosen.

12-97: v2.01: fixes.

download wipvk201.zip (Wipevk)


4. WIPEUTIL- Good collection of specialized file/ disk wiping programs.

* * * * * [added 8-16-98]

WIPEUTIL contains a set of very small (~4K) programs that perform a variety of file and disk wiping functions: See docs and home page for more in-depth descriptions of included programs.

Author: Mark Andreas (1996)

download wipeutil.zip (10K)


5. Real Delete- TSR wipe-delete utility with many options.

unrated

Gleaned from the excellent documentation....

"Real Delete...is a memory resident program that intercepts DOS file delete calls and overwrites the files before deleting them. It does this automatically, with no attention from the user other than installing the program in AUTOEXEC.BAT.... [You can also use Real Delete] to expunge a single named file, rather than go memory resident. An unusual feature of Real Delete is that it overwrites the slack space at the end of the last file cluster as well as the file itself. This is not actually part of the file, but it often contains data left in a DOS "dirty buffer"....Each file overwrite is followed by a "file commit" call to make sure that the write happens on the disk, and not just in a disk cache. At the end of all overwrites, the file is truncated with an invalid first cluster number, so there is not even a pointer left to the original contents, and the file is finally marked as deleted in the directory." Author: Iolo Davidson, U.K. (1997).

Important notes from docs...

Command line switches (see docs for detailed descriptions of security levels):

/per or /personal - select personal level security 
/com or /commercial - select commercial level security 
/mil or /military - select military level security 
/dewd or /dewd - select kool dewd level security 
/garb or /garble - all overwrites to use pseudo-random garbage 
/valid - keep valid cluster number etc. in directory 
/silent - suppress initial screen messages 
/unload - remove Real Delete from memory 
/delonly - do not clear slack space on close or truncate 
[c:\dir\filename] - delete single named file without going TSR

Shareware status: "This program is shareware. Anyone may use it indefinitely on a single computer for their own private and personal use for free.... If the software is used professionally, or in the course of a business (including the business of government, civil service, or security services), or for the purposes of commerce, then a registration fee must be paid."

download realdeal.zip (16K)


OTHER FILE DELETION UTILS


UnWanted- Delete temp, bak, zero-size files and directories. Configurable.

* * * [added 1997; updated 04-15-99]

UnWanted is an easy to use command line prog that helps you rid your disk of "unwanted" files: backup files, temp files, FILE_ID.DIZ's, zero-size files and directories, etc. Since I rarely use this type of program, I haven't compared UnWanted with the competition. When run, it looks in a config file for the file specs and types to delete (the user can edit the config file; default sets are: *.BAK, *.TMP, *.$$$, *.~??, FILE_ID.DIZ, DESCRIPT.ION.). It next searches a whole drive, asks for confirmation of deletions of each matching file, and performs the deletion. It can create a log file of all actions. Author:Tsahi Chitin (1999)

04-15-99: New in v2.50b7 (4-99): Bug fix for fast Pentiums, docs included, development has ended.

download uw250b7.zip (Beta, 26K)


1. ELIM- Delete files that DEL can't (with illegal filename characters).
2. RME - Delete files/directories that DEL can't (with illegal filename characters).

* * * *

If you have a recent version of MS-DOS, DELTREE should also remove files with illegal names.

1. Elim: From the documentation: "The main purpose of ELIM is to enable the user to delete files which normal DOS DEL or ERASE cannot handle. For example, the user may run a poorly programmed utility which can create files which have a blank or other illegal character in the filename. DOS DEL will not be able to delete such a file. ELIM will solve the problem. ELIM does not prompt the user for confirmation, where a wildcard is used. Avoid using ELIM in preference to DOS DEL, unless you really know what you are doing."

2. RME is a similar 1995 program that is interactive and can delete directories. From the docs:

"The program will load and prompt the user for a filename. The name you enter can contain the usual DOS wildcards '*' and '?' for use when filtering certain file names. RME will then attempt to locate any matching file or directory names. It will then ask you whether you are sure you want to delete the file or directory. You can exit RME.EXE back to DOS at any time by pressing <Ctrl> + <Break>. RME will not remove directories which contain other files or subdirectories." I can't locate this on other ftp sites- uploaded to my web space.

download elim10.zip (ELIM)
download rme.zip (7.5K RME)


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© 1994-1999. Rich Green