Wipe everything on M.2 SSD including OS

[Horkos]

Hi everyone,

 

I have some trouble with my fresh build, and it appears that the issue comes from my windows 11 installation (which is an upgraded windows 10).

 

I'd like to wipe everything on my SSD (this is a single M.2) including windows 11 and previously installed windows 10 in order to do a fresh start with good'ol bootable flash, but as far as I searched, a lot of different ways to do this were proposed (and most of them were product placement for X or Y formatting software). 

 

I'm kind of new in this universe, so I don't exactly know how to proceed... any hints on how to do this without damaging the SSD?

 

Thanks,

[Levent]

2 minutes ago, Horkos said:

without damaging the SSD?

technically speaking any time you are writing to an ssd, you are reducing its lifespan. Just create an USB installer of the version of windows you want and nuke partitions while reinstalling windows.

[Horkos]

Just now, Levent said:

technically speaking any time you are writing to an ssd, you are reducing its lifespan. Just create an USB installer of the version of windows you want and nuke partitions while reinstalling windows.

You mean doing the advanced installation on the USB installer menu? I thought about formatting the main partition but wasn't sure it wouldn't affect other components...

[Average Nerd]

1 minute ago, Horkos said:

You mean doing the advanced installation on the USB installer menu? I thought about formatting the main partition but wasn't sure it wouldn't affect other components...

Yes, just select the partition you want your fresh install on and it will usually ask for confirmation to basically overwrite the contents of the partition with the fresh OS.

[Brando212]

7 minutes ago, Horkos said:

You mean doing the advanced installation on the USB installer menu? I thought about formatting the main partition but wasn't sure it wouldn't affect other components...

yep, when you boot in to your install media just choose 'custom install' then delete all the partitions from the list when asked where to install and choose next with an empty list; it will redo all the partitions then in the optimal way.

[E-waste]

45 minutes ago, Horkos said:

Hi everyone,

 

I have some trouble with my fresh build, and it appears that the issue comes from my windows 11 installation (which is an upgraded windows 10).

 

I'd like to wipe everything on my SSD

 

I'm kind of new in this universe

Here's a product placement:

Macrium reflect

 

I have used Macrium reflect successfully many times.  I have not had an issue when cloning the data to another disk using that with Windows.

 

It can even do a backup while the system is running, using Windows shadow copy feature.  A schedule option works well, and I had the system set to monthly backup.

 

Another option is a bit more text based

 

Clonezilla

 

Not as easy, but I have used it for a few years, copying my ssd to a hard disk, and then back again.  I haven't had any issues with full disk cloning, but do not understand how to use the image file mode.

 

You do not want to wipe ssd-type storage.  I understand you probably thinking to delete, where as wipe means to write 0s to all data.  A windows format will first check the media for bad sectors, this is what used to take around 45 minutes when installing Windows 2000 and up.  This doesn't write data like 0 to the disk.  It only marks unwritable sectors, and marks everything else with a free space flag.

 

This mark does not erase, wipe or over-write the data with a 0, it is only enough to allow the data to be written again.

 

With flash ssd storage, a real wipe / over-write will wear down the write cycles on your disk, and even doing so is less effective at truly wiping the data vs a hard disk.  So don't bother doing that, just do a full format.

 

The full format will mark any unusable areas, so it's a good idea to do it for new storage devices.

 

I suggest copying your appdata folder if you do not have a backup.  First, re-install your updates, and then programs.

 

A website called Ninite allows automatic installation of many common programs, so it could save you some time.

 

When your programs are re-installed, delete or rename your appdata folder to appdata.old

 

Windows uses that extension name for a folder from an upgraded installation.  Then, paste your appdata folder in the same place.

 

It is C:/ users / username / app data.

 

You will need to turn on windows folder settings, show hidden files / folders.

 

This way all your program settings will be copied so you don't need to re-enter website passwords, and other settings.

 

 

 

So, make a full disk backup of your ssd as it is, if you have a spare disk, if not, make sure your copy things you want to keep somewhere other than the windows main system storage.

 

Then, Windows has a "refresh" mode to reset Windows back to stock.  It does reset some things, which has helped fix issues I was having.  So, you may not need to do a clean install if the refresh seems to solve the issue.