CCleaner 2.17.853 is now available.

The most interesting addition in this version is the ability to wipe free disk space.

There was already a secure deletion routine implemented in CCleaner, but until now, it was able to only wipe files. This meant that if you deleted a file the usual way and then remembered you wanted to wipe it, you were out of luck.

However, CCleaner 2.17.853 can wipe all free disk space on a partition (or more, there’s a new entry in Options->Settings). The way it does this is interesting and strange at the same time: it seems to create a huge file, taking up all your free disk space, and then it wipes it using the usual secure delete routing.

Some users reported problems with this new functionality, but I’m sure the developers will iron out any existing quirks for the next release.

Since version 2.15.815, CCleaner’s Secure Delete feature can be accesed via a command line option. It’s very useful, but for most users it’s a drag to open a command line window and to run the ccleaner.exe binary with the file/folder to delete as a parameter. The process can be simplified if CCleaner’s directory is added to the PATH environment variable, so that you don’t have to enter the full path to ccleaner.exe. Still, we can do better than that…

Introducing the CCleaner Secure Delete script, a simple script for the Windows command line shell. Simply unzip the script on your desktop or another handy location, then drag files or folder you wish to delete onto it. The script will tell you what is about to be deleted, than call ccleaner.exe. If you’re sure, confirm CCleaner’s dialog and that’s it!

Any suggestions or tips are welcome.

You can either download the script, or create it yourself (just make sure you give the file a .cmd extension). Here’s the script’s contents:

Note: If you have installed CCleaner somewhere other than the default location, you will need to edit the script and put in the correct installation path.

Note 2: A similar result can be achieved by creating a shortcut to ccleaner.exe and changing its “target”, like in this screenshot (add a space and the text “/delete” after the double quote at the end). You can add a comment as well (it will be displayed when you place your mouse pointer over the shortcut icon). don’t forget to name the shortcut something meaningful such as “Secure Delete with Ccleaner”.