Jump to content

Wiping a drive with windows on it

Bassai Dai

Hi all. I recently upgraded my boot drive from a SSD to an NVME. I used the Samsung migration software which was great and easy to use. However, I wish to use the old drive for another project and it still has my windows"image" on it. How can I wipe it?

I've tried plugging it in. But the bios doesn't see it as a drive. I think because its got an OS on it, it doesn't see it as a slave.

 

Bring back the days of moving the jumpers on the rear of the drive! Lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

An axe should do fine, even a drill if you feel especially powerful 

Main PC [The Rig of Theseus]:

CPU: i5-8600K @ 5.0 GHz | GPU: GTX 1660 | RAM: 16 GB DDR4 3000 MHz | Case: Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic | PSU: Corsair RM 650i | SSD: Corsair MP510 480 GB |  HDD: 2x 6 TB WD Red| Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro | OS: Windows 11 Pro for Workstations

 

Secondary PC [Why did I bother]:

CPU: AMD Athlon 3000G | GPU: Vega 3 iGPU | RAM: 8 GB DDR4 3000 MHz | Case: Corsair 88R | PSU: Corsair VS 650 | SSD: WD Green M.2 SATA 120 GB | Motherboard: MSI A320M-A PRO MAX | OS: Windows 11 Pro for Workstations

 

Server [Solution in search of a problem]:

Model: HP DL360e Gen8 | CPU: 1x Xeon E5-2430L v1 | RAM: 12 GB DDR3 1066 MHz | SSD: Kingston A400 120 GB | OS: VMware ESXi 7

 

Server 2 electric boogaloo [A waste of electricity]:

Model: intel NUC NUC5CPYH | CPU: Celeron N3050 | RAM: 2GB DDR3L 1600 MHz | SSD: Kingston UV400 120 GB | OS: Debian Bullseye

 

Laptop:

Model: ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 AMD | CPU: Ryzen 7 4700U | RAM: 16 GB DDR4 3200 MHz | OS: Windows 11 Pro

 

Photography:

 

Cameras:

Full Frame digital: Sony α7

APS-C digital: Sony α100

Medium Format Film: Kodak Junior SIX-20

35mm Film:

 

Lenses:

Sony SAL-1870 18-70mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 

Sony SAL-75300 75-300mm ƒ/4.5-5.6

Meike MK-50mm ƒ/1.7

 

PSA: No, I didn't waste all that money on computers, (except the main one) my server cost $40, the intel NUC was my old PC (although then it had 8GB of ram, I gave the bigger stick of ram to a person who really needed it), my laptop is used and the second PC is really cheap.

I like tinkering with computers and have a personal hatred towards phones and everything they represent (I daily drive an iPhone 7, or a 6, depends on which one works that day)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, Bassai Dai said:

I've tried plugging it in. But the bios doesn't see it as a drive. I think because its got an OS on it, it doesn't see it as a slave.

It having an OS shouldn't be an issue. Does it show up in the drive manager in Windows?

PC SPECS: CPU: Intel Core i7 3770k @4.4GHz - Mobo: Asrock Extreme 4 (Z77) - GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 680 Twin Frozr 2GB - RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x4GB (8GB) 1600MHz CL8 + 1x8GB - Storage: SSD: Sandisk Extreme II 120GB. HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB - PSU: be quiet! Pure Power L8 630W semi modular  - Case: Corsair Obsidian 450D  - OS: Windows 7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

4 minutes ago, TomvanWijnen said:

It having an OS shouldn't be an issue. Does it show up in the drive manager in Windows?

I think it did, but wouldn't let me do anything with it.
 
I think I'll take a screenshot after work. Should it be a relatively simple process?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Bassai Dai said:

 

I think it did, but wouldn't let me do anything with it.
 
I think I'll take a screenshot after work. Should it be a relatively simple process?

Hmm, weird.

 

It should be a relatively simple process indeed.

PC SPECS: CPU: Intel Core i7 3770k @4.4GHz - Mobo: Asrock Extreme 4 (Z77) - GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 680 Twin Frozr 2GB - RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x4GB (8GB) 1600MHz CL8 + 1x8GB - Storage: SSD: Sandisk Extreme II 120GB. HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB - PSU: be quiet! Pure Power L8 630W semi modular  - Case: Corsair Obsidian 450D  - OS: Windows 7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Bassai Dai said:

 

I think it did, but wouldn't let me do anything with it.
 
I think I'll take a screenshot after work. Should it be a relatively simple process?

You sure your M.2 drive is NVMe and not SATA? Because a SATA M.2 drive often will occupy the same resources as a SATA cabled drive. Either way, try moving the SATA SSD to another port on the motherboard. Also be sure both drives are enumerated in BIOS. That way you can rule out possible Windows issues.

 

Assuming for a moment that both drives are detected in BIOS, both drives will be available in Disk Management within Windows. 

 

Alternatively, you can use the DiskPart command to clean the drive. !!!WARNING!!! All data will be wiped. Be sure you've selected the correct disk to clean.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, StDragon said:

You sure your M.2 drive is NVMe and not SATA? Because a SATA M.2 drive often will occupy the same resources as a SATA cabled drive. Either way, try moving the SATA SSD to another port on the motherboard. Also be sure both drives are enumerated in BIOS. That way you can rule out possible Windows issues.

Moreover with some newer Ryzen CPUs even an NVMe drive can disable certain SATA ports. This is because the CPU comes with a set of pins that directly provide 1 NVMe slot and 2 SATA ports (in addition to whatever the chipset provides). However the pins can't do both at the same time which means that an NVMe in that particular slot will disable both of the SATA ports using those pins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks all. I really apologize for the vague post. I was sat on the toilet at the time!

 

I've managed to identify and fix the problem. Apparently my NVME and SSD have the same "signature" or something (Probably because one is a clone from another). I went into Disk Management, enabled the disk manually, and then managed a format.

 

Thanks all!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×