Does using TrueCrypt makes "file shredding" tools obsolete?

The deleted files still lurking in the filsystem (that Eraser would delete) will be encrypted as well, as the whole filesystem is encrypted. So it ends up with how secure one thinks it is to encrypt the disk with TrueCrypt. One can only find the deleted files if one can get access to the crypted filesystem (with password or cracking it).

"It depends. Using TrueCrypt definitely gives you better security. That's because if someone's looking for your deleted files then s/he have to get your TrueCrypt credentials. Then s/he can decrypt your file system and maybe can get back your deleted data.

Getting your password or the encryption key is not as hard as it seems to be. (Well, if the attacker gets physical access to your computer.) There are hardware and software keyloggers. There's the cold boot attack, just to name a few.

However, shredding your entire encrypted volume is extremely easy. All you have to do is to shred the encryption key. This is usually a few kilobytes. For example, if you want to ""destruct"" a TrueCrypt volume just shred the first megabyte of the volume and it's very unlikely that someone will ever get any data back from it."

Encrypting does not negate the need for file shredding. There are ways to get around Truecrypt if someone gains physical access to your machine.

If the whole volume is encrypted with TrueCrypt, you do not need to shred anything on the volume, period. Read the TrueCrypt documentation.