============================== JFShred 1.0 By JF Software - Joshua Foster http://www.jfsoftware.net joshua_70448@ureach.com August 14, 2002 ============================== TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= * Introduction * The Main Window * Recombining * Advanced Topics * How to Contact INTRODUCTION ============ JFShred 1.0 is a file shredding utility for making a large file into smaller chunks that can be easily re-combined. It features a user-friendly interface, multiple shredding options, drag-and-drop support, recently used folder list, and more. Plus, the files can be re-combined in any DOS version, without requiring Windows. THE MAIN WINDOW =============== The main window has four sections: * File/folder selection * Shredded File Size * File statistics and status meter * Action buttons File/folder selection --------------------- * File to shred: There are three ways of selecting a file to shred: - Clicking the Browse... button next to the "File to shred" box This brings up a typical Windows "Open File" dialog box. Pick your file and click OK. Notice that you can't type a filename into the "File to shred" box. - Dragging a file from Windows Explorer onto the JFShred window You can drag a file from Windows Explorer, the Desktop, or any other window onto the JFShred window, and it will be selected as the "file to shred". - Sending the file through the Send To menu If you set up your computer to allow "Sending To" of files to JFShred, they will automatically be placed in the "File to shred" box. See "Advanced Topics" for information on setting your computer up for this. Whenever you select a file to shred, its current folder will be placed in the "Folder to save to" box. * Folder to save to: Click the Browse... button to select a folder to save the shredded files to. If you are going to "Shred to fill disks" (see "Shredded File Size"), use the root directory of a removable disk. You can select the last 5 folders used by clicking the down button on the "Folder to save to" box. Shredded File Size ------------------ * Shred into # pieces: Type a number from 1 to 999 into this box to make JFShred make a certain number of (roughly) equally-sized pieces. The "Piece Size" field will show you the estimated size of each piece (see "File statistics and status meter" for more information). * Shred into size in KB: Type a size from 1KB up into this box to make JFShred make a number of pieces of a certain size. The "# Pieces" field will show you the estimated number of pieces (see "File statistics and status meter" for more information). * Shred to fill disks: Use this option to fill floppy disks. Be sure that the "Folder" box has the root directory of the floppy disk you wish to fill. The "Piece Size" and "# Pieces" fields will have the estimated statistics for the *currently loaded* disk. (See "File statistics and status meter" for more information). File statistics and status meter -------------------------------- * Original File Size: This field shows the original size of the file. * # Pieces: This field shows the estimated number of pieces that will be produced. If the words "(w/out batch file)" appear at the end of this field, then the batch file's size will not be included in the first file chunk (See "Advanced Topics for more information on the batch file). If this field says "# Pieces: >999" then the resulting number of pieces would have been too high to use. Try reducing the number of pieces, or increasing their size. * Piece Size: This field shows the estimated size of each piece. The first piece, when added with the batch file, is the same size as the other pieces. However, if the words "(w/out batch file)" appear at the end of this field, or if you are shredding to fill a disk, then the first piece alone will be as large as the other pieces. If you are shredding to fill a disk, then the words "(est. on current disk)" will indicate that the shown statistics are "estimated on current disk" free space. * Status Meter: This bar will show how far along the program is. If the bar is green, then the program is currently shredding. If the bar is yellow, then the program is asking a question. If the bar is red, then the shredding has been unsuccessful. Action buttons -------------- * About (F1): This shows the About JFShred window. From here, you can visit the JFShred website, email the author, and view this readme document. * Refresh (F5): This refreshes the statistic fields and checks that the file to be shredded still exists. * Shred: This starts the shredding process. * Exit (Esc): This exits the JFShred program. * Stop This stops the shredding process (only visible when shredding, as the Exit button). RECOMBINING =========== To recombine the file pieces into the original file, copy them all (with the batch file) to the same directory, with enough free space for the original file. Then, run the batch file in DOS (you can double-click it in Windows). The batch file does all of the hard work, and gives a tone when it is finished. ADVANCED TOPICS =============== * "Send To" functionality * Batch files "Send To" functionality ----------------------- To make it easier to shred a file, you can use the "Send To" menu in the file's context (right-click) menu. If you select the "Send To" option during Setup, then this will automatically be done for you. This shortcut will automatically be deleted when you uninstall JFShred. However, you can also create it manually. To do this, create a shortcut to the JFShred program and copy it to the [Windows]\SendTo folder (where [Windows] is your Windows directory, usually C:\Windows). You may have to delete this shortcut yourself when you uninstall JFShred, however. Batch files ----------- A "batch file" is a DOS file containing a series of commands for DOS to run. JFShred uses a batch file to recombine the file segments without requiring DOS to be present on the target computer. Unlike many other shredding utilities, however, JFShred will usually attempt to fit the batch file together with the first piece. This allows you to copy them together, as they are the same size (combined) as any other piece. For example, when shredding a 100KB file into 10KB chunks, you may have the following arrangement: TESTFILE.001 - 8KB TESTFILE.BAT - 2KB TESTFILE.002 - 10KB TESTFILE.003 - 10KB ... TESTFILE.009 - 10KB TESTFILE.010 - 10KB TESTFILE.011 - 2KB As you can see, the BAT (batch) file and the first piece combine into 10KB exactly. This functionality only works when the file pieces are big enough and you are not shredding to fill disks. Otherwise, the first piece is of normal size. HOW TO CONTACT ============== Contact name: Joshua Foster Email: joshua_70448@ureach.com Webpage: http://www.jfsoftware.net