                             <=- Wipe v3.03 -=>

                               October 8, 1997
                     Document revised November 22, 1997

Copyright (c) 1996-97 Jem E. Berkes

  Alkaid Software (alkaid@knotwork.com)
http://alkaid.knotwork.com/
ftp://ftp.kayhay.com/pub/dos/alkaid/

Wipe is shareware. Please try it out for a month, and if you like it, register
it (you can receive a version with your name in it, and free updates through
e-mail). Registration is only $15 for a single user (contact the author for
multiple user/site licenses). You can use the WIPEREG program to print out
a registration form (mailing address at end of this file).

Wipe version 3.03 was written in 100% assembly language and is therefore very
small, fast, and requires little memory.  Even though Wipe erases data at a
very high rate (reaching speeds of up to 1.5 MB/sec on a 100-MHz Pentium), its
effectiveness is no less than other similar utilities'.  If anything, Wipe is
more effective than other "wiping" utilities because it can over-write data
with random garbage as well as scramble a file name, and can do all of this on
any Intel-compatible x86 processor under practically any memory conditions.

WIPE is a data security utility which is used to permanently erase files.
Normally, a deleted file can be viewed or undeleted with special software. But
when a file is "wiped out", data recovery becomes practically impossible. Wipe
can delete files that are up to 4 gigabytes in size, and will delete a file no
matter what its attribute is (hidden, read only, etc.)

In tests, Wipe v3.03 performed up to 100 times as fast as other similar data
security utilities due to its efficient use of DOS functions. At its rate of
1.5 MB/sec on a P100 system, Wipe could overwrite 2 gigabytes of data (the
maximum size of a FAT partition) in just under half an hour!

                          <=- System Requirements -=>

To run Wipe, you must have at least:

- An IBM or compatible PC with a 8086 or higher processor
- MS-DOS v2.0 or a compatible DOS such as IBM/PC-DOS or Caldera/OpenDOS/DR-DOS
- 68 KB of memory (for full deletion)

                            <=- Operating Modes -=>

Wipe can operate in two modes:
1. Full deletion
2. Quick deletion

These are explained in detail below:

(1) FULL DELETION
       In this mode, a large file will take longer to delete than a small
file because the data is actually being overwritten. Wipe overwrites the data
quite quickly; on a 386 computer, the rate of erasing is about 256 KB/sec. On
a Pentium, rates can easily reach and exceed 1.5 MB/sec. During full deletion,
you will see a percentage display indicating how much of the file is deleted.
Once the deleting is completed, you will see the message "DONE" replace the
percentage value. The advantage of using this mode is that even a powerful
disk management utility will not be able to recover the original data in the
file. Wipe uses this mode by default.

(2) QUICK DELETION
       This is a fast deletion method that will delete a large file just as
quickly as a small file. If a file is undeleted after Wipe deletes it using
this mode, the file's length will appear as 0, and it will contain nothing.
However, advanced disk management utilities may be able to recover the file's
original data because it is not actually overwritten. Because full deletion
does not take much longer, it is the default mode. If you wish to use quick
deletion, you must tell Wipe this by adding the /Q switch to the command line.

                          <=- HOW TO USE WIPE -=>

You should first copy WIPE.COM to your C:\DOS or C:\ directory. Then type:
WIPE [drive:][path]filename.ext [/Noprompt] [/Quick] [/Hide] [/Keep]

[drive:][path]
       You may specify a pathname for Wipe to delete files in. However, a root
directory specification such as A:\*.* is not allowed, but you can get the
desired result by using two back slashes: A:\\*.*. This will, hopefully, keep
you from accidentally wiping out important system files in the root directory.

filename.ext
       This is the file that you want to delete. You can delete multiple
files by using a wildcard. For example, you can use the name TEST.FIL or the
wildcard *.FIL, which means all the files ending in the FIL.

/Noprompt
       If you don't want Wipe to ask you if it's OK to delete each file, you
can type /noprompt after the file name. You can shorten this to /n. Deletion
confirmation is automatically enabled if you don't use this switch. For each
file to be deleted, Wipe will ask you to type in Y (yes), N (no), or A (yes
for all files). Pressing any other key is the equivalent of 'no'.

/Quick
       This tells Wipe to use quick deletion instead of full deletion. It can
be shortened to /q.

/Hide
       When this switch is used, the names of the files you are deleting will
not be shown anywhere on the screen. May be shortened to /h.

/Keep
       Does not scramble the file's name before deleting it. Unless this is
used, all file names are destroyed. May be shortened to /k.

             <=- Wiping sub-directories (or an entire disk) -=>

       Wipe v3.03 comes with a freeware utility (from DOS World magazine)
called "SKIM".  Using SKIM, you can make Wipe erase files in more than one
directory.  For example, to wipe out all the files in the current directory
and all subdirectories, you could type:

SKIM WIPE *.* /N

       BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL.  It is far too easy to accidentally Wipe out
ALL of the files on your hard drive by running the above command from your
root directory (C:\ or D:\).
       Despite the risk, if you think that you will be using SKIM along with
Wipe, make sure that you copy SKIM.COM to the same directory as WIPE.COM.

                      <=- Using Wipe under Windows -=>

If you are using Wipe under Windows 3.x or Windows 95, Wipe will automatically
detect this. So if you double click on WIPE.COM from File Manager (or Windows
Explorer), or create an icon for Wipe and double click on it, Wipe will start
and ask you to enter the options you would like to use. For example, if you
would have typed "WIPE C:\TEMP\*.* /N" from DOS, you would get the same result
by typing in "C:\TEMP\*.* /N" in response to the "Enter command tail ->" prompt.
If you decide start up Wipe with parameters in Windows, you will not be asked
for any more input. Wipe's "Enter cmomand tail ->" prompt is meant to offer you
the versatility of a DOS command under a Windows environment.

To create an icon for Wipe under Windows 3.x:
1. Select a Program Manager group.
2. Click on "File" from the Program Manager menu and click on "New..."
3. Select OK.
4. Enter a description, such as "Wipe v3.03", then press TAB.
5. Enter WIPE.COM for the command line, then press TAB.
6. Enter the default directory you would like WIPE to start up from.
7. Click on "Change Icon..."
8. Click OK in response to the warning.
9. Type in the path of Wipe's icon, (e.g. C:\DOS\WIPE.ICO) and press ENTER.
10. Click OK.

To set up a shortcut for Wipe under Windows 95:
1. Point to a blank position on the wallpaper.
2. Click the right mouse button.
3. Click on "New..."
4. Click on "Shortcut"
5. Type "WIPE" and press ENTER.
6. Type a name such as "Wipe v3.03" and press ENTER.
7. Double click with the left mouse button on an icon of your choice.
** THEN, (IF YOU WOULD PREFER USING THE INCLUDED ICON FOR WIPE)...
8. Point to Wipe's shortcut and click the right mouse button.
9. Point to "Properties" and click the left mouse button.
10. Click on the "Program" tab.
11 Click on "Change icon" (near the bottom of the window).
12. Type "WIPE.ICO" and press ENTER.
13. Click OK, then click OK again to save the changes.

                              <=- Examples! -=>

Here are some valid uses of Wipe:
wipe c:\temp\*.* /n /q /k
wipe a:\\*.exe
skim wipe *.* /n

Here is the common INVALID use of Wipe:
wipe c:\files.bak

                     <=- Some technical information -=>

To see if you have enough memory to use full deletion, type MEM at the DOS
prompt and press ENTER. The line that reads "Largest executable program size"
tells you how much conventional memory you have. You will be able to perform
full deletion if the value shown is above 68384 bytes (or about 67 KB).

During deletion, CTRL+C or CTRL+BREAK may be pressed to stop the process and
return to the system. After pressing the break key, you must still wait for
the current file deleting process to complete.

You may notice that your cursor has disappeared while Wipe is working. This is
not a problem with Wipe. The cursor is hidden to reduce the time it takes to
show the percentage value.

For full deletion, Wipe generates a block of random data then writes it to
the file you want to delete. Once all the data is overwritten, Wipe completes
the task by going to the quick deletion part of the program.

Quick deletion consists of truncating the file (setting its length to 0) and
then, unless otherwised requsted, changing the file's name to XXXXXXXX.XXX.
The file is then deleted.

Wipe, like most other programs, returns a code to DOS once it has finished
running. The code, called the ERRORLEVEL, is a number between 0 and 255 that
can give the user an idea of what has happened. Wipe uses these codes:

 0  - No errors encountered
 1  - No parameters specified
 2  - Invalid (illegal) function
 3  - File not found
 4  - Invalid path or path not found
 5  - No more file handles available
 6  - Access denied to file
 7  - Memory setup failure
 8  - Insufficient memory
 9  - User pressed CTRL+C or CTRL+BREAK to stop Wipe
255 - UNKNOWN ERROR (please notify the author)

This information will probably only help you if you write batch files.

                             <=- Legal Stuff -=>

YOU USE THIS PROGRAM AT YOUR OWN RISK! ALTHOUGH THE CODE WAS DESIGNED WITH THE
UPMOST CARE AND WAS TESTED ON NUMEROUS SYSTEMS, THE AUTHOR CAN NOT PREDICT THE
ATMOSPHERE OR CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH YOU USE THIS SOFWTARE. THE AUTHOR IS
NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DATA LOSS THAT WILL BE CAUSED BY WIPE. REVERSE ENGINEERING
OF WIPE IS PROHBITED BY THE AUTHOR.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Check for viruses or tampering! File info for Wipe version 3.03:

File name: WIPE.COM
File size: 2141 bytes
File time: 3:03a (indicates version 3.03)
File date: 10-08-97 (October 8, 1997)

McAfee's Validate version 2.0.1 generated this info: 

WIPE     COM      2141  10-08-97   3:03a   42F0   3F2F

Jem E. Berkes
185 Waverley Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3M 3K4
Canada
