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Scan for Confidential Data on External Drives: Windows

The information in this article is intended technical staff who support end-users. It is unusual for an end-user to need this information.

This article applies to: Spirion (formerly Identity Finder)

You can use Spirion to scan the following:

  • External hard drives
  • Thumb drives
  • CDs and DVDs
  • Mounted Disk Images (servers mapped to a drive letter on your machine)
Some unit/department have optional policies in place; scanning may not be available in some locations. 

If you are scanning a folder on a server, you should map the server to a drive letter on your machine. 

  1. From the Start menu, select Spirion.   If this is the first time you've used Spirion, continue with Step 2. Otherwise, skip to step 3.  If your computer has multiple profiles, you must run Spirion with elevated (admin) privileges in order to scan all of the profiles. Right-click Spirion and click Run as Administrator. Type the administrator password, and then click Continue.
  2. In the New Spirion Profile window, enter a password, confirm the password, and then click Next. In the Profile Password box, click OK. Note: Do not use your NetID password.
  3. If prompted, in the Spirion Profile Sign In window, enter your password, and then click Next.
  4. On the Main tab, click the small arrow below the Start icon, then select Start Search Wizard.
  5. The first wizard screen specifies what to look for. Click Next.
  6. On the wizard Locations screen, on the Custom Location line, click the three dots icon. 
  7. Select the drive (or mapped folder), then click OK.
  8. Back on the Locations screen, click Next.
  9. On the Confirmation screen, click Finish. Spirion begins scanning. You'll see a Status window where you can track the scan progress.
  10. When the scan is complete, Spirion displays a list of files containing confidential data. If you want to save the results file (this is optional),
    1. Click Save As, then choose a location and file name.
    2. Enter a password to use for the scan results file, confirm the password, and then click OK. Note: Do not use your Spirion profile password or your NetID password for the results file.
  11. If you wish to review the results, click Advanced.
  12. Review the list of files identified by the scan. You must look at each file and decide how to deal with it. Always follow local practices to determine the best way to handle files identified by the scan.  For more information, see How to Handle Scan Results.
  13. When you have dealt with all the files in the list, quit Spirion.
Using Spirion to shred email will shred or corrupt your entire mailbox. If confidential data is identified in an email message, to permanently delete the mail message without damaging your mailbox, open your email application, delete the message, then empty the trash and compact your folders. 

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