  _ _  _      _ 
 | | \| |_  _| |_____ 
 |_| .` | || | / / -_) 
 (_)_|\_|\_,_|_\_\___| 
     
[Note. This is Tony Hopstaken's original 'help' file from version 0.91a,
with only minor amendments by Nat Queen, to bring it up to date for version
0.91b.]
     

Nuke (program):
Author : Sergio Monesi (more details in nuke_help)
Version: 1.41, 25 August 2008
Status : FreeWare

!Nuke (frontend):
Author : Tony Hopstaken (no contact address available at present)
Version: 0.91b, 25 August 2008 (updated by Nat Queen)
Status : FreeWare
Updates: http://www.queen.clara.net/pgp/acorn.html
__________________________________________________________________________
WARNING!!!
----------
Read the docs below first. Files *cannot* be recovered in any way after 
being nuked. It may be wise to practise on a floppy or RAMdisc
before putting this program to serious use.
__________________________________________________________________________
Why should I use it?
--------------------
If you never have any data that is sensitive in some sort of way, then you 
may as well delete !Nuke. If you do have such data, then read on... If you
delete a file, RISC OS simply removes its entry from the directory structure.
The data itself is left totally intact until it's (partly) overwritten by
some other file. Until then you can use many utils to recover (at least part
of) the data on your disc. So can anyone else.
__________________________________________________________________________
What does it do?
----------------
!Nuke overwrites all selected files before deleting them. So even disc
editors or 'undelete' utilities can't recover the data. !Nuke can also wipe
all free space on your hard disc. Free space usually contains fragments of
old ('deleted') data. !Nuke supports interactive help.
__________________________________________________________________________
!Nuke does not:
---------------
- Protect any unnuked data on your disc from reading. Use an encryption 
  program to do this. Several such programs can be found at the URL
  mentioned above.
__________________________________________________________________________
Manual:
-------
(*partly* covered by !Nuke.nuke_help)

The icons:

- Path
  Enter here the path to a file, directory or drive to be nuked. 
  The path can be entered by typing, dragging or selecting from the
  little icon to the right of this field.
    
- Quiet
  The program will not ask for confirmation before starting to nuke.
  
- Verbose
  With this option ticked, !Nuke shows some info
  on what it's doing for the technically minded.
  
- Nuke free space
  Wipe all parts of your disc that are *not* used by files/directories.
  Wipes the drive that's (part of the path) in the 'path' icon.
  
- Nuke file(s)/dir(s)
  Wipe the selected file(s)/dir(s).
  WARNING: !Nuke works recursively. This means that if you select a
  directory (a disc name is also a directory), this directory and *all*
  files and directories inside this one are permanently deleted. That's
  *not* only the files you can see in this directory, but also the
  potentially thousands of them that are *inside* it. 
  
- Overwrite
  This option specifies the number of times !Nuke overwrites the data.
  With *very* specialised (military) equipment it should be possible to 
  recover faint magnetic traces that are 'under' the current data. 
  Even several overwrites can probably be recovered by such equipment.
  !Nuke allows up to 99 overwrites for the extremely paranoid. But even 
  1 overwrite will prevent >99% of the people from recovering the data.
  So I made this the default setting and suggested possible values of
  1-10 in the options window. If you attempt to save settings with >10
  overwrites, the number will be reset to 10.
  1 =fast but less secure.
  7 =slow but probably all you ever need.
  10=very slow, but secure enough to withstand almost any recovery attack.
  35=even slower, but with 'true military' security.

- Fill sectors with
  You can enter a string here that is used to overwrite the data. 
  It may be any combination of characters. Or maybe a funny message for
  anyone who tries to read your deleted data.  Alternatively, you can
  use the little icon to the right of this field to select random data.

- Nuke
  This button starts the erasing process.
  Triple check everything before pressing it!
 
- Clicking menu in the window opens a little menu with 3 options:
  'Manual' loads this manual.
  'Reset'  loads the default settings.
  'Save'   saves the current settings.
__________________________________________________________________________
Clashes in options:
-------------------
!Nuke tries to check if sensible parameters have been entered.
If not, it will complain.
__________________________________________________________________________
Possible limitations:
---------------------
Even if you overwrite data on a disc many times, there is no guarantee
that the data cannot be recovered. For example, the disc head may not
write in exactly the same place in different passes. The security of
the overwriting may depend on the age of the drive. If the disc head
has drifted since you wrote the data, specialised equipment may be able
to recover the original data by examining the edges of the disc tracks.
Therefore, if you want to protect sensitive data over long periods of
time against such possible attacks, it may be wise to copy the data
into new files periodically and then nuke the old files.
__________________________________________________________________________
Legal notice.
-------------
!Nuke is freeware. The copyright is retained by the author, Tony
Hopstaken. You may copy and distribute this software freely as long as none
of the files are altered or removed. If you are running a magazine or PD
library, you may put it on your disc or CD, provided that you first check
http://www.queen.clara.net/pgp/acorn.html for a later version.
Dropping a line in my mailbox about this would be appreciated. You may also
put it on a BBS. If you want to make it available on the Internet, I would
prefer it if you only include a link to the above URL. All the above, and
any other, distribution methods are allowed, provided that you only make a
reasonable charge for media, post and package, and do not make any profit
from its distribution. Otherwise, feel free to contact me. This software
must not be distributed as part of any other application without my prior
permission.
__________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer.
-----------
!Nuke has been tested extensively in many different situations, but no
guarantee is given as to its suitability for any purpose. The programmer or
tester _cannot_ be held responsible for any data loss, crashes or other
undesired effects caused directly or indirectly by using !Nuke or any
of its sub-applications. 
__________________________________________________________________________
Thanks to
- Sergio Monesi for letting me use his nuke module and for adding
  the -p(aranoid) and -m(ilitary) options on request ;-)
- Nat Queen for giving me some of his webspace, helpful suggestions and 
  editing the text.
__________________________________________________________________________

0.90,  16 June 1998. First release
0.901, 30 June 1998. Some cosmetic changes. No added security.
0.91,  01 January 2000. Includes Nuke 1.40, compatible with RISC OS 4.
0.91a, 05 May 2000. Minor change for compatibility with the latest machines.
0.91b, 25 August 2008. Includes Nuke 1.41, compatible with RISC OS 5.

