Did i format my disk correctly

[Kamranbites]

I want to wipe my m.2 securely like compleat format 

So i installed Crucial software and did a secure format it just took less then 6 sec was it done correctly like data was deleted 

But did it do secure or quick erase 

 

Crusial M.2 500gb p3

Attaching message received on formating 

[SpookyCitrus]

I've never used Crucial's software to secure erase so not positive if it completed, 6 seconds seems a little quick to me but it's possible if you're not doing a zero fill to prevent data retrieval a secure erase can finish that quick especially if there wasn't any data on it.

 

Are you wiping it to sell or recycle it? If you're just going to reuse it a secure erase or a simple quick format is fine. If you are selling or recycling it I'd do a zero/random fill using Aomei or similar free software.

[Guest]

If it took less than 6 seconds you probably used quick erase/format mode and if there's no option to turn it off then it's junk software. The formatting tool in windows generally works just fine for me and it has an option to turn off quick format. Or if you don't trust windows, there's dedicated software you can find pretty easily.

[OddOod]

TBH with how inexpensive SSDs are these days, if you have sensitive info that cannot get out, I recommend grabbing a pair of wire cutters and snipping through every chip on the board. It's the only way to be sure. 

[Kamranbites]

5 hours ago, SpookyCitrus said:

I've never used Crucial's software to secure erase so not positive if it completed, 6 seconds seems a little quick to me but it's possible if you're not doing a zero fill to prevent data retrieval a secure erase can finish that quick especially if there wasn't any data on it.

 

Are you wiping it to sell or recycle it? If you're just going to reuse it a secure erase or a simple quick format is fine. If you are selling or recycling it I'd do a zero/random fill using Aomei or similar free software.

But I heard zero/ random is best for hdd not used for nvmv as The data on the SSD is always encrypted, and Secure Erase deletes the encryption key stored in the SSD controller.Without the encryption key, all existing data becomes unreadable, making recovery impossible even with forensic tools.

Is that true

[kokosnh]

Depends, secure erase is just a command.

The SSD should delete everything in all NAND blocks, but not all of them do that. Some SED SSD just erase encryption key. The data is still there, just encrypted, but that is exception. 

 

And yes the real secure erase is under second to finish, as it's erasing whole NAND blocks, all at once. 

 

Secure erase do not write anything to the SSD, it's just discharging all of the charge stored in NAND cells.

 

Do mind that I'm not familiar with that crucial software, so can't tell what it is doing ( if it's just formating, or real secure erase ). There should be one option for secure erase, nothing more, nothing less. 
 

[kokosnh]

so according to the crucial it's just format. as they do not have software for secure erase. 

Quote

Running the ATA SECURITY ERASE command requires the use of third-party software. We do not endorse any specific software, though our parent company Micron offers guidance on one such option here. 

https://eu.crucial.com/support/articles-faq-ssd/methods-for-erasing-an-ssd

https://www.micron.com/about/blog/storage/ssd/securely-remove-all-data-from-ssd

and just to be clear, for secure erase to take a second, the SSD have to have hardwear supporting it, to be exact, the channel enabling discharging whole NAND blocks at once. But to my knowledge, it's all in physical NAND architecture, so should be present in all SSD. 

Ps. I use parted magic for secure erase my SATA SSD, lots of mobo also has that functionality build in UEFI.

[SpookyCitrus]

10 hours ago, Kamranbites said:

But I heard zero/ random is best for hdd not used for nvmv as The data on the SSD is always encrypted, and Secure Erase deletes the encryption key stored in the SSD controller.Without the encryption key, all existing data becomes unreadable, making recovery impossible even with forensic tools.

Is that true

Yes, and no. If you're getting rid of the drive, i.e disposing of or selling it, or even if the drive is having issues(I've had a zero fill fix SSDs that had pretty inconsistent read and write fluctuations that didn't work well even after a secure erase) doing a single zero fill on it isn't going to affect it negatively, you don't want to do them all of the time of course, but one zero fill on an Nvme SSD in it's lifetime isn't going to cause any problems. 

 

And yes, as long as the secure erase tool you use is an actual secure erase it should do what you want it to do. Like I said, if you are selling or disposing of the drive a zero fill will work just the same. If you're disposing of it, hell just physically destroy the nand chips with a hammer, cutters, whatever. If the drive needs to be re-usable that's when you go the software route. You didn't really specify why you want it secure erased or if it's going to be re-used.