Shred partitions

Manage these settings from: Settings ▸ Data Shredder ▸ Customize ▸ Shred partitions

The Shred partitions screen allows you to specify which method Data Shredder uses to shred an entire drive and all data stored on it. After making any changes, click OK to save Data Shredder settings.

Note: Data Shredder is available in Avast Premier only.

Manage Algorithm settings

Under Algorithm settings, click the drop-down menu to expand the related settings and select your preferred overwriting method:

Random overwrite: overwrites your data with random patterns. The number of times your data is overwritten is determined by the number you specify. Click the text box and type a number of passes (the default number is 1). This is the simplest and quickest method.
DOD (Department of Defense) 5220.22-M algorithm: overwrites your data with several types of data (0, 1 and random characters) within three passes. This method is more secure, but slightly slower than the Random overwrite method.
Gutmann method: overwrites your data according to the encoding mechanism used by the drive. The Gutmann method performs the largest number of passes over the data in comparison with other methods. This is the slowest, but the most secure method.

Note: You must format the partition after shredding to make it usable again. For more information about formatting, refer to the Windows system documentation.