How to wipe drive with windows

[Abzilla]

Hi,

I have a 120gb SSD as my main windows drive and another 2 drives for storage. I have cloned the SSD onto a 480gb SSD but want to put a few games onto the 120gb SSD for quicker loading times, however, windows is still on there and its not letting me format the 120gb SSD. How do I wipe the 120gb SSD with windows?

[ProjectBox153]

Make sure that you are booted from the new 480GB SSD. Have you tried to wipe the drive with Disk Management?

[Abzilla]

Just now, ProjectBox153 said:

Make sure that you are booted from the new 480GB SSD. Have you tried to wipe the drive with Disk Management?

yup

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, Abzilla said:

yup

OK, have you tried diskpart?

[Abzilla]

1 minute ago, ProjectBox153 said:

OK, have you tried diskpart?

Nope, what is that?

 

[ProjectBox153]

7 minutes ago, Abzilla said:

Nope, what is that?

 

It's a command line utility that can be used to wipe drives, but you have to be very careful with it. Do you need any of the data that is on that drive?

[Abzilla]

Just now, ProjectBox153 said:

It's a command line utility that can be used to wipe drives, but you have to be very careful with it. Do you need any of the data that is on that drive?

I do not need any of the data as it has been cloned onto my new drive

[ProjectBox153]

3 minutes ago, Abzilla said:

I do not need any of the data as it has been cloned onto my new drive

Just making sure. I'll walk you through the process if you'd like. Open Command Prompt and type "diskpart" without the quotes. You'll need to allow it to run.

[Abzilla]

1 minute ago, ProjectBox153 said:

Just making sure. I'll walk you through the process if you'd like. Open Command Prompt and type "diskpart" without the quotes. You'll need to allow it to run.

Please do! I've never done this before. So I have done that and have "DISKPART>"

[TehDwonz]

3 minutes ago, Abzilla said:

I do not need any of the data as it has been cloned onto my new drive

If Windows is not letting you wipe the 120GB SSD, it might be because it still technically boots from it. Can you boot from the 480GB SSD without the 120GB in the system (physically remove the SATA cable)?

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, Abzilla said:

Please do! I've never done this before

No problem. Do you have diskpart open now?

[Abzilla]

Just now, TehDwonz said:

If Windows is not letting you wipe the 120GB SSD, it might be because it still technically boots from it. Can you boot from the 480GB SSD without the 120GB in the system (physically remove the SATA cable)?

I have Rearranged the boot priorities so it should run from the 480?

[Abzilla]

Just now, ProjectBox153 said:

No problem. Do you have diskpart open now?

yup

[TehDwonz]

Just now, Abzilla said:

I have Rearranged the boot priorities so it should run from the 480?

I would try to boot with the 120GB SSD disconnected before wiping it. Just sayin'...  

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, Abzilla said:

yup

Type in (without the quotes) "list disk"

[Abzilla]

Just now, ProjectBox153 said:

Type in (without the quotes) "list disk"

Yep I see it telling me the disks with the disk numbers

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, Abzilla said:

Yep I see it telling me the disks with the disk numbers

This is where you'll need to be careful, but you'll be fine. You need to determine which drive is the drive you want to wipe. What disk number is the 120GB SSD that you're trying to wipe?

[Abzilla]

Just now, ProjectBox153 said:

This is where you'll need to be careful, but you'll be fine. You need to determine which drive is the drive you want to wipe. What disk number is the 120GB SSD that you're trying to wipe?

Yea, I can see "disk 0 111gb" which is definitely the one i want to wipe

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, Abzilla said:

Yea, I can see "disk 0 111gb" which is definitely the one i want to wipe

Now type in "select disk 0" and wait. Before you do anything else you need to double check that you really are booted from the new drive. Open Task Manager and click on the Performance tab at the top. Then click on Disk 0. 

[Abzilla]

Just now, ProjectBox153 said:

Now type in "select disk 0" and wait. Before you do anything else you need to double check that you really are booted from the new drive. Open Task Manager and click on the Performance tab at the top. Then click on Disk 0. 

Yup my ssd is not the booted drive, i have selected drive 0

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, Abzilla said:

Yup my ssd is not the booted drive, i have selected drive 0

In Task Manager you should see something that says "System disk: no." If you're sure then we'll wipe it. Back in the diskpart window you should be at another blinking cursor. Type in "clean" and press enter. Let me know what it says. 

[Abzilla]

1 minute ago, ProjectBox153 said:

In Task Manager you should see something that says "System disk: no." If you're sure then we'll wipe it. Back in the diskpart window you should be at another blinking cursor. Type in "clean" and press enter. Let me know what it says. 

I see the "system disk no" on my it, I have typed "clean" however, this popped up:

 

Virtual Disk Service error:
Clean is not allowed on the disk containing the current boot,
system, pagefile, crashdump or hibernation volume.

[TehDwonz]

Just now, Abzilla said:

I see the "system disk no" on my it, I have typed "clean" however, this popped up:

 

Virtual Disk Service error:
Clean is not allowed on the disk containing the current boot,
system, pagefile, crashdump or hibernation volume.

I did warn you... see if you can boot the 480 without the 120 plugged in.

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, Abzilla said:

I see the "system disk no" on my it, I have typed "clean" however, this popped up:

 

Virtual Disk Service error:
Clean is not allowed on the disk containing the current boot,
system, pagefile, crashdump or hibernation volume.

OK, so it isn't completely unused by Windows. In Task Manager does it say "Page file: Yes"?

[Abzilla]

3 minutes ago, ProjectBox153 said:

OK, so it isn't completely unused by Windows. In Task Manager does it say "Page file: Yes"?

yes