Multi Trash for Windows

Multi Trash puts a trash can on your Windows 7/Vista sidebar that offers drag and drop file recycling, deletion, and secure shredding.

Once you park it on your sidebar you'll see a trash can labeled according to the mode you're using—in the screenshot we're in the Shredding mode. The arrows on each side of the trash can label toggle you between Recycling, Deletion, and Shredding modes. You'll likely leave it on the mode that you use most frequently and rarely toggle it but using quick-access GUI elements always beats digging around in the options menu. If you do venture into the options menu you can tweak the the three icons—Recycling, Deletion, and Shredding all have distinct appearances—and turn warning messages on and off for all three modes.

One thing worth noting is that the documentation on the Multi Trash web site doesn't specify what kind of secure deletion powers the Shredder function. We tested it with a large file and the burst of intense hard drive activity coupled with our inability to recover the file using basic recovery tools gives us confidence in the tool for basic security. Nonetheless, we'd prefer to know exactly what kind of overwrite method is being used. Multi Trash is freeware, Windows only.

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