Want to delete some files on your hard disk and make sure that no one will ever be able to recover them? Wipe File is a free Windows utility that lets you wipe files or directories using one of 14 different methods. Instead of simply moving files to the recycle bin, Wipe File will overwrite the section of your hard drive that contained the file making it difficult, if not impossible for anyone to discover what the original file contained.

When you first run the program, all of the menus will be in German, but Wipe File supports 9 languages including English. Just hit the Extras menu to find a list of languages.

If you're looking for a program that can wipe entire discs or partitions, you might wan to check out Wipe Disc, another utility from the developer of Wipe File.

[via LUX.ET.UMBRA]

We're back with another episode of The Squadcast. This time, it's all about email. We talk to productivity expert Matthew Cornell about the five D's. Also, we take a look at our five favorite email add-ons for keeping your house in order.

Download the show in 480p XviD (58MB)

Take the jump for the show notes.

AppDelete is a freeware utility for Macs that, ostensibly, removes all associated files when you delete an application. (Don't you hate having meaningless preference files hanging around, taking up hard drive space?) AppDelete claims that if you drag the application you want to delete onto its icon, it will scan your hard drive and find all the associated config files, preferences, and so on.

Unfortunately, although the current version is 1.0.1, AppDelete is not yet ready for prime-time. I tested it with a few applications, and it found no associated files, even though they were right there in my Library folder - or sometimes in the same folder as the app itself. More importantly, though, some Lifehacker commenters have pointed out that you need to pay close attention to what AppDelete is doing, lest it delete stuff you'd rather keep. For example, one commenter says she told AppDelete to remove Fire, and it ended up trying to remove Firefox as well. Lifehacker blogger Adam Pash seems to have had a good experience with it, though, so I guess it's hit or miss.

Ars Technica is reporting that versioning support will be implemented in Vista at the file system level, allowing users who have System Protection (enabled by default) running to simply right-click a file to access a "Previous Versions" menu (now I know why Vista's hard drive requirements are so steep). Previous Versions will also monitor backups made of files with Vista-aware backup applications, so it will only show versions of the file made after the last backup.

As usual, there could easily be privacy and security concerns among the corporate IT crowd, as Previous Versions can make copies and track versions of files on network drives as well. As icing on the cake, the term 'deleted file' might also become a thing of the past, as Previous Versions can restore files even after being removed from the recycle bin.

Check out Ars Technica's full writeup of everything Previous Versions will have to offer.

A few weeks ago Google added to Gmail the ability to delete everything in the Spam folder in one fell swoop, and there was much rejoicing. More recently Gmail has gotten another very welcome feature: the ability to select all messages in a particular label or search, not just those in the current view. The upshot? If you want to perform some action on a whole bunch of messages--delete, add a label, archive--you don't have to do it fifty messages at a time anymore. Want to delete all 7,000 messages from your stalker? Just search by his e-mail address and then click "Select: All," whereupon you'll be given the option to select all messages that match your search, not just the ones on the current page, and then you can do with them as you please. I'm not sure if this feature is rolled out to all Gmail users yet--Google tends to do these things in phases--but those that have it are sure to be pleased.

[Via Panasonic Youth]

Over at Mac Geekery they've got a cool guide to making your laptop (in this case a Mac) delete your important files in the event that it's stolen. The meat of the thing is a shell script that periodically checks a remote web server for a file called "youve_been_stolen," and if it finds the file it quietly deletes the files in your home directory. You can also make it alert the new owner that it's stolen and any other shenanigans you can think up. This method could be extended pretty easily Windows, but you'll have to figure it out yourself. Just make sure you've got your important files backed up somewhere, 'cause you're even if you get your laptop back you won't be getting them.

Since its debut, people have been scratching their heads over Gmail's mysterious lack of a one-click Delete button, and went to great lengths to make it easier to send messages to the trash. Finally Google gave in and this week Gmail got a wee tiny update, and now there's finally a real Delete button right next to "Report Spam." We knew you'd come around, Google.

I rely on Firefox's History to keep my most frequently-accessed web sites available at a keypress. I can type any letter into the address bar and immediately choose among my favorite web sites whose URLs start with that letter. That's not the tip; read on. Unfortunately, the History gets polluted sometimes -- somehow a web site I have no interest in visiting frequently will find its way to the top of the list for some letter I use often, which really chafes me. For some reason I've ever been convinced that there's no way to delete individual URLs from the History without just clearing the whole thing. Turns out I was wrong. In Firefox, if you want to delete an individual entry from the History, just highlight it (either in the History sidebar or in the address bar drop-down) and press Shift+Delete. Gone, never to bother you again!

Maybe this is news to nobody but me (indeed, it's right there in Help), but I'm just thrilled about it.