Evidence Terminator 3.2 - Erase and Remove Internet Activity Software

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Evidence Terminator Software FAQs

Q. What's new in Evidence Terminator (ET) v3.2?

A.  Evidence Terminator will now ignore data.bak, a file which is required by Microsoft Office XP.  Additionally, a bug in a Microsoft API prevented certain custom script entries from being erased.  This has been corrected in v3.2.

Q. What is Evidence Terminator and why do I need it?

A. The Evidence Terminator software will help you enjoy a richer and more protected computing experience as it deletes those annoying junk files and covers up your internet footsteps automatically!  The software is sold independently from our SpyCop scanning software on this web site.  Evidence Terminator's main advantage over other junk file cleaners is its advanced scripting system and deep cleaning capabilities.  In addition, you do not have to remember to run ET, as it runs automatically on startup.  You can specify as many locations as you wish to be erased on startup, and you can "deep clean" your system and get those files hiding throughout your hard drive.  Evidence Terminator is the most advanced hard disk cleanup utility in the world and should not be mistaken for just another cache cleaner.

Q. How do I get started with Evidence Terminator?

1. Click Start, select Programs, SpyCop, Evidence Terminator
2. Select your last hard drive in the lower right corner
3. Check the check boxes to be cleaned in Standard options
4. Check the check boxes to be cleaned in Advanced options
5. Click More Options and enable the scripts you want processed
6. Click generate scripts in lower left corner
7. Click Clean Now to delete the files or restart your system.
Instructions are also under Help, Getting started.

Q. How is ET different or better than other cleanup utilities?

A. ET is entirely dynamic and script based.  It is not based on predefined areas to be cleaned, and automatically customizes itself for your system.  Additionally, there is a user defined script where you can put whatever you want to be cleaned.  ET also overwrites files two times before deleting them to help prevent data recovery.

Q. Does Evidence Terminator delete index.dat?

A. YES!  Evidence Terminator wipes index.dat files out on Win9x, Win2k and WinXP!

Q. Can files erased by ET be undeleted?

A. Evidence Terminator overwrites every file to be erased with a pattern of 1s and then hex 0xFFs before deleting it.  This makes recovery very difficult without sophisticated data recovery analysis.  Standard undelete tools and even surface scanners will generally fail to recover your "evidence" once it is "terminated" by ET.  It is solely your responsibility to review your scripts before cleaning for the first time to be sure that any files that you want to keep are not listed to be deleted for this reason.  Do not use this software in environments where guaranteed data destruction is required.  A hard drive is an imperfect mechanical device, thus Hard drives can never be completely wiped unless physically destroyed.

Q. What are all the advanced options?

A. A brief description of each advanced option will pop up when you hover your mouse over them.  They are also explained here in more detail:

• *.BAK : Backup files, usually created when applications periodically autosave your documents.
• *.GID : Old Windows Help system index files.
• *.CNT : New Windows help system index files.
• *.LOG : Logs created when programs, including Windows, load.
• *.CHW : Windows help files used for doing keyword searches.  Are recreated when needed.
• *.CHK : Created by scandisk and chkdsk to store data found in "lost clusters".
• *.TMP : Various temporary files created by applications and deposited though out your system.
• *.DIZ : File ID files which are usually included in ZIP files off of directories such as simtel.net
• *.OLD : Usually create when you choose to overwrite an existing file in certain applications.
• *.BK! : Another extension commonly used for backup files.
• *.HFX : Created by some CD writer software during the burn process.
• *.CDX : Created by some CD writer software during the burn process.
• *.HFA : Created by some CD writer software during the burn process.
• *._MP : Installer temporary files used during the setup process for some applications.
• *.___ : Sometimes used in place of TMP for temporary files.
• Mscreate.dir : Created by Microsoft installers for uninstallation purposes.
• Index.dat : URL logs stored by Internet Explorer while online.
• Detlog.* : Hardware detection logs useful for troubleshooting problems.  Created during boot.

Q. My Win9x system updates files every time it starts

A. For those who have disabled the Windows splash screen, you may see a notice that Windows is updating configuration files.  That notice appears because ET has configured Windows to delete the index.dat files when it boots.  You can ignore the notice as it is perfectly normal and does not take any noticeable time during startup.

Q. Evidence Terminator appears to hang up on script generation

A. During the script generation process, Evidence Terminator may appear to hang up and even be marked as an unresponsive application by some versions of Windows.  This can occur if you have a slow system or lots of files on your drive.  The script generation process indexes the files on your drives and figures out which ones to add to the script.  Because of the large amount of calculations that occur, the application may temporarily be unresponsive.  You can ignore this and within a few minutes the script should be completed.

Q. My cookies, cache files, etc are not being erased!

A. If you have relocated any of your Internet caching folders and called them something different than their default name, Evidence Terminator may not find them while generating your scripts.  The solution is to enter them into your user defined script.  Click More Options, add the line into the script for where you placed the directory, and then enable the user defined script in the same dialog.

Q. Evidence Terminator is not erasing my temp files!

A. First, try uninstalling the software, manually make sure the installation folder is gone via Windows explorer, and then reinstall it.  This has corrected many problems in the past.  If you have moved your history or cache folders, you must regenerate your scripts or enter them into a user defined script.

Q. My Index.dat files are not being deleted and ET is configured properly

A. The Index.dat files will only be deleted if you have them selected in the advanced script.  Secondly, the Index.dat files are actually one reboot behind each time ET runs, even when you force a cleanup using the Clean Now button.  This is because the index.dat files are actually erased during bootup before ET runs, so it always takes the reboot after a run of ET to get rid of the Index.dat files.  Lastly, there will always be some index.dat files, though they will be about 16-32k in size when empty.  This is nothing to be worried about as Windows has simply recreated the files to start collecting data from your current browsing session.

Q. Are there any known incompatibilities? 

A. There is currently one known incompatibility.  ET will not be able to erase any files when Zone Alarm Pro is running in the background.  Please close Zone Alarm Pro to allow ET to work properly or replace Zone Alarm with another firewall.  We recommend Outpost Firewall.  A free and Pro version is available.  If you successfully run ET with ZoneAlarm Pro running, please let us know what version so that we can update this notice.

Q. What are scripts?

A. The scripts are the lists of locations on your system to be cleaned.  There is a basic script, which contains the regular cache and cookie locations to be erased, and the advanced script, which searches for specific file types to be removed from your system.  Lastly, there is a user defined script where you can enter custom locations to be cleaned.  The scripts are created based on the options that you have placed check marks in and must be re-generated each time you change which check boxes are selected.

Q. How do I know what is safe to erase?

A. ET comes configured to remove only safe locations.  You can simply install the software and click generate scripts to have these areas cleaned.  More advanced users can choose to change the options and add lines to the custom script to clean additional areas of the system.  ET v3.1 and higher come with a handy Script Configuration Wizard to guide you step by step through each option.

Q. Can certain cookies or files be ignored?

A. This is currently on a list of features to add and is not possible at this point.  In the meantime, you can disable cookies from being erased and add specific cookies to be erased to the user defined script.

Q. How do I stop ET from running on startup?

A. You are provided with an option during installation to not have ET run on startup.  You can also temporarily stop anything from being erased by going into More Options and disabling all of your scripts.  To permanently stop ET from running on startup after installation, you'll have to uninstall and then reinstall the software and deselect the run on startup option in the installation wizard.

Q. Is this the same as Evidence Eliminator, Evidence Eraser or Evidence xxxxxx?

A. No.  Evidence Eliminator (and others)  and Evidence Terminator are completely different products.  They are produced and sold by completely independent companies.  The SpyCop product is Evidence Terminator.  Please make sure you are emailing the correct company when inquiring about a product.

Q. I thought destroying "Evidence" is illegal?

A. This software is licensed to you for use on your own personal computer in the privacy of your own home.  The software is designed to clean Internet tracks and other garbage files from your drive for your own personal peace of mind.  We do not condone the use of this software to hinder an ongoing police investigation.  You assume the entire risk for your use of ANY of the software available from this web site or those of our partners.

Q. ET continues to erase my cookies (or other location) even when I unchecked it

A.After unchecking an option, you must either re-generate your script or go through your script and remove the lines that you don't want processed.  To remove a line, simply double click it.  To get the line back later, you can re-generate your scripts.  Also make sure that you didn't enter anything into your advanced script and then forgot that it is still there.

Q. ET is not erasing xxxxxxxx drop down list (or other registry location)

A. Evidence Terminator is a disk cleaner, and is designed to do that very well.  The software is not designed to clean registry entries, which is where most drop down lists are stored.  Certain main lists are removed only as a convenience and not as a primary feature.

Q. The location bar in IE is not being erased

A. You must have History selected in the basic settings area in order for your Internet Explorer drop down list to be erased.  Please keep in mind that ET is a disk cleaner, not a registry cleaner.  This drop down list is only removed as a convenience.

Q. The run, find or file search list still has the old contents listed after running ET

A. Some lists are cached in memory and won't disappear until you reboot your system.  These lists are only deleted when you have recent documents selected to be removed.  Please keep in mind that ET is a disk cleaner, not a registry cleaner.  This list is only removed as a convenience.

Q. After installing ET, I receive Explorer.exe Application Errors

A. Some versions of Windows 2000 and XP may have non-standard locations referenced by Explorer.  This can be especially true of OEM versions customized by PC makers.  When ET generates the basic script, it looks for common temp locations which can include special temp locations set up by OEMs.  For some reason Explorer itself may crash after these locations are cleared, apparently because it attempts to reference a now non-existant file without first checking to see if it is still present.  The solution is to remove entries from the basic script one at a time until the errors stop.  Please let us know which entry is at fault...if we can find a pattern we may be able to prevent such locations from being tagged for cleaning in the first place.

Q. In addition to ET, what else can I do to prevent data recovery of sensitive data?

A. There are a few simple yet important steps that you can take to further reduce the risk of unwanted data being recovered from your system.  For help with the completion of any of these procedures, refer to your Windows documentation via Start, Help:

1. Automatically clear the page file in Win2K/WinXP
Windows itself provides you with this option. To enable it, Open Control panel -> Administrative tools -> local security policy. In the tree on the left side, select +-local policies and then +-security options. Look for the option labeled "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Page file" in the right pane and double click it and then enable it. After you restart your system, the swap file will automatically be cleaned on shutdown.

2. Disable the Windows Write Cache
Besides being dangerous and a leading cause of data loss in a power failure or crash, write caches can also be a security risk. A write cache stores recently modified data in memory and then writes it to disk at a later time. This can post a security risk because data which you thought you deleted or relocated is in fact still unchanged on disk...the changes were simply made in memory. By disabling the write cache, modifications to files are written as soon as they are performed. Use the steps below for your OS version to disable the write cache:
Windows 2000/XP: Go to Control Panel, System, Hardware and click 'Device Manager'. Scroll down to 'Disk Drives' and expand it. Next, double click each drive, select the 'Disk Properties' tab, and remove the check from the 'Write Cache Enabled" box. Win2000 may not remember this change due to a bug and requires either HotFix Q290757 or Service Pack 3.
Windows 9x/ME: Go to Control Panel, System, 'Performance tab', 'File System' button, 'Troubleshooting' tab, and place a check in the "Disable write behind caching for all drives" box.

3. Frequently defragment
By frequently defragmenting your drive, space left behind by once present files that are now deleted will be filled, resulting in the previous data being overwritten yet again after ET completes its cleanup procedure.  Before defragmenting, however, be sure to run scandisk/chkdsk to check for file allocation errors and keep a current backup on hand.  A power failure or system crash in the middle of a defrag session could result in loss of data.

NOTE: Due to the mechanical nature of hard drives, destroying data completely via software is nearly impossible.  To completely destroy data so that it can not be retrieved, you must physically destroy the hard disk drive itself.  We do not support the use of our products or displayed information to impede an ongoing police investigation.

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