Resolved Wipe SSD with Partitionwizard

I want to wipe my SSD (because I want to). I have Partitionwizard. Is this good to use?
I see so much different stuff on wiping SSD drives. Is there stuff, good and bad to know?

Thank you,
Chris.

 

Wipe is wipe. And all any wipe program does is write a bunch of random 1s and 0s in all the storage locations on the drive. So it does not matter which program you use.

Since SSDs do not retain magnetic residues like hard drives do, you only need and should only make 1 pass with the wipe program. Doing more than one pass will just waste the write cycles.

I use CCleaner's Drive Wiper feature. To ensure TRIM and wear-leveling does not interfere, I delete all files off the SSD, then run the Wipe Free Space feature - but again ONLY 1 pass.

 

I use Drive eRazer Ultra. It wipes everything. It even has a DOD wipe mode.

 

Most do, but note that just means it will write a series of 3 patterns in each storage location, then repeat the process 3 times for a total of 9 passes which is extreme overkill for "UNCLASSIFIED ", personal drives. But again, that is for "hard" drives which use magnetically aligned particles to represent the data and the repeating passes is to ensure, beyond all possibility, that no residue magnetism representing any data remains.

SSD's don't use magnetic particles therefore, once a data storage location is overwritten, the data is gone for good and totally irretrievable. And because SSDs (especially older SSDs) have a limited number of write cycles, you should NEVER run a wipe program for multiple passes.

Note if you want to waste several days wiping a large hard drive, CCleaner has a 35 pass option, but that can take days on very large drives.

Unless your "hard" drive contained truly "classified" data that would affect national security, or incriminating data representing illegal activity you don't want law enforcement to find, a single pass is more than enough for "personal" hard drives as that will completely prevent anyone from "accidently" finding your data. Even with one pass, it would take sophisticated and very expensive forensic data recovery equipment in a "clean room" (because they have to disassemble the drive and analyze each platter separately), and a bunch of luck, to recover anything. This means for someone like the NSA, FBI, DoD, a drug cartel, hacker, or whoever to make that sort of investment to "try" to recover any data, they would be targeting you specifically because they already have some pretty convincing evidence against you!

So if you, as a "normal" who is not a government spy or big time criminal, are just donating your computer or discarding your old drives, a single pass is more than enough to ensure your passwords, credit card numbers, "racy" photos, etc. are long gone.

And also, as soon as the new user started using that drive and saving data to it, they will start writing new data to those storage locations - effectively running another pass.

 

Before I retired I needed heavy duty wipe capabilities nothing illegal, but, now that I'm retired I don't need it. Those drives are long gone anyway. I ended up destroying the drives. Nothing that important on my pcs now but photos, music and my favorite website links. I'll also add some links that are posted on the Windows BBS forums to the favorites menu to read later.

 

Yeah, when I had client's information on my drives, I typically did a 3 pass run with Eraser "“ which uses DBAN technologies (before CCleaner added their Drive Wiper feature). But if the drive could not be accessed, drilling 3 holes through the drive about an inch out from the center hub did the trick too.

 

After searching more, I found that Corsair now has a "toolbox" program. Their toolbox wipes the drive without writing to it. Recharges it also.

Problem (with Ccleaner and Toolbox) is, I have a OS on C:, and that's the drive I want to 'clean' so I can't run the drive wipe on the drive my OS is on.

Chris.

 

If the SSD is your boot drive, the Corsair Toolbox won't let you wipe out the OS either.

 

Physically destroying hard disk either by drilling holes, smashing it or shredding it the most secure way of destroying the data. Its much faster too !

 

Ummm, sorry, but not correct. For DoD drives, IF they contained "classified" data, they must be shredded. But DoD drives that never contained classified information can be "sanitized ", then donated to other federal agencies, schools, or state and local governments.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=2937

 

Come on, Tony! What are you talking about? I don't understand why you are being so stubborn on this. Google is your friend! You can start by plugging in computers for learning.

Very few departments actually have computers that contained "classified" data! By far the vast majority of government computers don't. They are too hard to control. Even in the military! Those that do have to be physically secured 24/7/365 and that is too much trouble. So there just aren't that many compared to unclassified computers. And contrary to your claims, it is MUCH cheaper to dispose entire computers with their drives via authorized reutilization programs than to pull and destroy drives then dispose them in compliance with EPA standards for such waste materials - then dispose of the rest of the computer too.

NO! Not unless they contained "CLASSIFIED" data and those are a relatively few compared to the massive number of computers that never contain classified. And for "sensitive" data, the vast majority of government computers are networked and the data is NEVER saved locally but served up by centralized servers.

So, sorry, but you are incorrect and this is very easy to look it up and verify. It happens all the time. I've seen it. I've participated in it when I was in the military and after I got out. There are GSA programs for it. And DoD participates in them too.

 

Again, if it contained no classified data or personal information, why not? And again, even DoD computers used for administrative purposes (which is the VAST majority of PCs) are NOT used to store personal data locally. They are all networked and the data is stored on centralized servers.

For example, personnel records and benefits eligibility records are stored on DEERS computers - not on the admin clerk's local PC in Orderly Rooms or Base Personnel Offices.

Active duty, civilian personnel and retired military, even contractor accounting and finance services are handled by DFAS and those records are not stored locally either.

Everything is "served" to the local computer then sent back to the data centers when done.

Note what you quoted above.

And again, by far, the vast majority of DoD computers do NOT process classified information and those that do are purposely kept to a minimum to minimize physical security requirements.

FTR, I spent 24 years active duty in IS/IT support for the Air Force, then another 10 years after I got out as a defense contractor providing IS/IT support for DoD and the State Dept. secure networks.

Also Langley (now Joint Base Langley-Eustis) is home to HQ Air Combat Command - a MAJOR command with 5 numbered air forces, 24 Wings and 14 operational bases (plus 100s of operational locations) under its command. That is HUGE and does not even count the Army's Fort Eustis side of things.

So no doubt, there is a lot of classified stuff going on there, more than most government installations that are not homes to major headquarters.

 

Well, yeah! With CIA Hq in Langley Va, its no wonder most HDs are shredded, nuked, burned, degaussed then doused with acid for good measure.