I have been asked for updates on the Shredder8 application, as the current version has its problems with the latest Windows 8 updates, especially with Windows 8.1.

A complete rewrite of the application is currently in the works, with about 80% of it finished so far. Depending on my time (and health), I hope to finish it in the next 1-2 weeks.

Today, I purchased the licenses for some clip art that I will use in the new version, so I decided also to show some screenshot of the current work-in-progress. (Showing the screenshots without a proper licensing of the artwork, would have been a problem)

The user interface has been completely redesigned, this is how the initial start screen of the application now looks like:

The new start screen, click to enlarge.

From here, you can choose what you want to do: Clean the free storage space on a device, or shred files and folders. Simply click on the corresponding picture to go to the next screen.

The wipe function is pretty much finished, this is how the screen will look, when you choose the wipe function:

The wipe screen, click to enlarge.

As you can see, here I introduce a new major feature. The application now presents a list of all removable devices, that are connected to the system, plus the system device and the option to select a folder, as in the previous version. After selecting a folder, the free/used space and folder name is also displayed for that folder in the list.

The device information is shown in a scrollable horizontal list. After (or before) you selected a file or folder, you can select the algorithm. A short description of the algorithm is shown, when you select an option.

Finally, press the wipe icon. After a confirmation message, the wipe process will start:

A work in progress: The progress bar, click to enlarge.

The progress information is now much more accurate, the final version will also include an estimation of the time left and raw bytes written and left to write.

I have tested the wipe process with different computers, storage devices and especially possible error conditions. Apart of being much more responsive in updating the progress and being very stable, it is now very fast!

At the moment, the shred function is in the works. But it should be finished a bit faster, because it uses the new central wiping/shredding toolkit I implemented in this version.

I hope you will like the new version, stay tuned for the final release!