Software Solutions According to Hoyle Presents:
SSAH File Shredder Copyright Nathanael Hoyle 2000
Version: 0.985

Installation Instructions:
If you received this program in readme in a zip file, extract them to any folder of
your choice.  Feel free to use something like C:\Program Files\Shredder or any other
directory.  If you received the files individually, then simply place them in any
folder, as mentioned above.  To run the program, simply run the executable file
shredder.exe.  This program uses no external dll's.  It requires a 386 or better
processor and at least Windows 95.  I am not aware of any other requirements.



FAQ And General Info
--------------------
Q. What is it?
A. SSAH File Shredder is a fully DoD-522022m specification compliant file shredder.  

Q. What is DoD-522022m?
A. It is a specification for how a file is to be securely erased.  It entails writing
over all of the data area of the file with 1's (FFh) then writing over it all again
with 0's (00h). According to spec, this procedure is repeated 3 times. Then finally, 
the is overwritten with the value of F6h (11110110).

Q. Can't I just delete a file and have it be gone?
A. Not really.  When you delete a file, all that happens is that the first character
in the file allocation (FAT) table is changed to reflect that it has been deleted.
At this point, it is still possible to UNdelete the file, with any number of tools,
allowing a full recovery of the file.  Over time the file data would become overwritten
after it was deleted, and eventually only some of the data would be retrievable, and
finally, none.

Q. What is the point of all the 1's and 0's?
A. Because hard drives are magnetic storage media, the data that is recorded often 
leaves a magnetic trace, even after it has been "deleted" AND overwritten.  If you
deleted a file, and then saved data over that portion of the hard drive, in most cases
all or most of the data would still be recoverable with special hardware.  This hardware
looks for the magnetic traces of the old data and reconstructs the file as it was.  The
point of all the 1's and 0's then, is to set and clear every magnetic bit used to store
the file several times.  The expectation is that this will be enough to prevent reading
the data, which has been overwritten and cleared multiple times.  Imagine a chalkboard,
if you were to write on it, and then erase it, you would usually still be able to read
what had been written.  If you then wrote on it again, you would still be able to read
most of what had been there.  But now, cover the entire board with chalk, and then erase
the entire board, three times... and you have little hope of reading what had originally
been written.

Q. Ok, I think i understand the 1's and 0's, but why the F6?
A. I am honestly not sure why that value was chosen.  If anyone in connection with the
DoD would like to clue me in to that, I would be happy to know why.  However, even not
knowing why it was chosen, I have embraced the full spec, including that in the program.

Q. Aren't there already file shredders out there for Windows?
A. Most certainly.  However, mine offers what I believe no other product does.  A price
of FREE.  

Q. FREE?
A. Yes.  Actually, the initial reason I wrote this product was not to distribute. I did
not sit down to write a commercial product.  Rather, I had already tried a few of the
commercial products, and I found the shareware versions overly crippled, and the full
versions overpriced.  Quite honestly, the program is not all that hard to code.  It does
not in my opinion merit the price tags of the other products.  One of the demo versions
I tried only allowed you to shred a total of 10 files... not much of a demo.  Seeing the
need for a free alternative, I decided to write one.  It is completely free of use for
both personal and business use, as long as the business use is less than or equal to 500
total installations by the company.  If a company wishes to use more than 500 copies of
this product, I will be happy to discuss VERY reasonable licensing rates.  It was however
mainly intended for individual personal use.

Q. I found a bug. Do you care?
A. Yes, very much so.  Please contact me with as much information as possible about the
error.  If you are a programmer and understand hex opcodes and stack dump information, and
think you might even know why the bug exists, feel free to send that information as well.

Q. I need help with the program. Is there tech support?
A. Yes and no.  The program is very simple to use, and should not require support.  Also,
the program is free, so I have no income from it to support providing support.  If you
have what you believe to be a valid question I have not answered here, feel free to send
me an email.  If I think the question has special merit, it will find its way in here.

Q. How do I contact you?
A. Please send email to cmptr-gk@home.com

Q. I know you said free, but this program is wonderful.  I would like to send you a small
token of appreciation.  Is there any way to do that?
A. Suckup.  Actually, although it is free, I would not mind seeing $1 and $5 dollar bills
showing up occassionally.  Please contact me by email, and we can discuss arrangements. At
this point I prefer not to put my home address in this readme.

Q. Your program sucks man.  Are there plans to improve it?
A. Thanks a lot.  Yes, I plan to add several features in future releases.  The main one I am
thinking of is the ability to perform multiple file and/or deletions all at once.  If you have 
specific suggestions, feel free to email me with them.

Q. What is the expected stability of this program?
A. This code has been carefully checked and has extensive error-trapping routines.  That
said, I cannot and do not, claim that it is free of any possible errors.  I take absolutely
no responsibility for the results of use of this program, whether or not it appears to be an
error.  The reason for the 0.985 version number is that although the code is believed to be
stable, I have had little chance for testing on diverse systems.  I therefore cannot promise
the results expected of a 1.0 release, although I do expect them.

Q. I shredded a file by mistake, is there any way to get it back?
A. None that I or the DoD appears to know of.  Sorry, but you must use this program with
extreme caution, and I cannot undo the results of its use.

Q. Are you sure that this will keep anyone from reading my files, once shredded?
A. Fairly.  It is what I rely on personally, and the specification was created by the
United States Department of Defense, so they would seem to have some faith in it as well.

Q. Do you guarantee that this will keep anyone from reading my files once shredded?
A. Not under any circumstances.  All I have done as a programmer is to implement a common
and supposedly secure method for wiping the data.  I cannot guarantee in any way that that
specification is 100% secure.  I do plan to include options for other wiping specifications
in future releases of the program.

Q. Your program is unbelievably tiny compared to the rest on the market, how the hell did
you do that?
A. Impressive isn't it?  I have been able to keep the program so small as to have almost
insignificant download time.  It is also very fast at what it does.  This was accomplished
by writing the entire thing in assembly language, as opposed to a high-level language such
as Visual Basic, which would have created bloatware in comparison.

Q. I like your skills, I think I might have a job for you.  Are you available?
A. I am at this point actively looking for a regular programming job.  Anyone who may be
in a position to offer me one, please feel free to email me and we can discuss my skills
and a possible position.  Or, if you would like to contract me to do a one-time custom
program, also feel free to inquire by email.



Nathanael Hoyle
cmptr-gk@home.com