Windows 10: how can I wipe my SSD clean?

"Few people are aware of the "clean all" command." That's me.
I'm not familiar on how to do things on hard drives; I can install and replace hard drives and install OS's and stay with default settings and that's it. But the information I've seen so far is excellent in this thread and now instead of just letting the SSD just be ready in case it's ever needed has given me the incentive to use it as a data drive for personal use.

 

you do not format a ssd. it has to be reset. i used parted magic boot key and once one iy's desktop i use erase disk.

 

I agree with @cereberus. Using third party programs or Linux to securely erase an SSD that the user is going to keep and use themselves is overkill.

In that same situation, though, there is also no real need for clean all, either, unless you are worried about an outside hacker or thief breaking in and running data recovery software on it to steal previously deleted files. The simple clean command only erases the partition table and, thus, much faster than clean all.

 

You guys know what?
This conversation got me to wondering, if one could not just use the Macrium Reflect recovery environment, and nuke all the partitions on a system drive that way*Nerd

 

Yes. Because the Macrium Reflect recovery environment runs completely from RAM. Once booted into it there is no "system drive" and you can wipe any physical drive connected to the system.

 

Much better than, as you do it from WinPE and most people(though not all) have it.
Time for you to make a mini tutorial & video(with dialog of course*Wink) on how to do it Lieutenant Commander*Biggrin

 

Diskpart clean all is not equivalent to ata secure erase because it does not take into account ssd overprovisioning.

 

The original question was: "How can I wipe my SSD clean? I'd like to wipe it clean to either toss it out (or not)." That is why answers recommend use of secure erase tools.

 

Go ahead and take the chance bricking your SSD if you want. Then you can always use it as a coaster if want.

 

I did it many times on different HDDs and SSDs. Any other question?

 

By the way, if one wants to just throw an SSD away, because, say it's one of the older generation ones, just encrypting it, and deleting(forgetting) the encryption key will do the job. Ain't noone going to get that data then, as it would be waaaaaay to costly to even think about recovering it.

Also encryption and then a full reformat will also do the job.

 

Have you ever played Russian Roulette?

 

for a ssd as stated several times above the secure erase tool is the best way to go. you want to reset it NOT wipe or format it.

 

As stated several times above - there is no need to use the secure erase tool unless you want to ensure that absolutely no data can be retrieved from the SSD by very complicated data recovery programs. The very simple clean command in diskpart is all you need to do if you are retaining possession of the SSD.

In fact, I just did this myself a couple hours ago. I messed up the OS on my SSD. Ran the diskpart clean command on it, re-installed Windows to it (creating and formatting all new partitions in the process), up and running again in 15 minutes.

 

I enjoy it.