Can't completely clear my SSD

[SithBowman]

Hi forum users,

 

I've been trying to completely wipe my M.2 SSD (Samsung 512GB), which still has an EFI system partition and OEM Partition in it after previously having Windows 10 on it (the drive currently has no Windows files on it whatsoever and hasn't done for well over a year).

 

When I try and use diskpart to clear the SSD, it says that it ca't be done as Windows is still running.

 

To make matters more complicated, when I go to my BIOS it comes up with the Samsung SSD as the primary boot option, without my actual boot drive, a Sandisk SSD which had the OS before ever installing the Samsung SSD in this build as an option.

The computer will also refuse to boot up into Windows without having the Samsung SSD selected to boot off of, again, despite ALL system files being on the Sandisk SSD.

[Fasauceome]

If you have a windows install tool, it can delete any partition on a drive. Just go through the installation process until it asks you what drive to install it on.

[WereCatf]

Another option is to download Ubuntu, make a bootable USB-stick of it with Rufus, and then use an app called GParted there. GParted will let you delete all the partitions on your SSD. (You may have to right-click the partition first and choose "Unmount" first, but that should be all you need to do.)

[njmyers3]

21 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

Another option is to download Ubuntu, make a bootable USB-stick of it with Rufus, and then use an app called GParted there. GParted will let you delete all the partitions on your SSD. (You may have to right-click the partition first and choose "Unmount" first, but that should be all you need to do.)

I agree with the Ubuntu idea but you can do it even easier with the built-in "Disks" program.

 

Just select the disk you want to format and then click the sandwich on the top right > Format. Then you can pick a new partition scheme and even securely wipe it (although I wouldn't recommend the latter for an SSD).

[WereCatf]

6 minutes ago, njmyers3 said:

even securely wipe it (although I wouldn't recommend the latter for an SSD).

There is absolutely nothing wrong with performing secure-erase on an SSD and it's a great way of quickly TRIMming the entire disc.

[njmyers3]

11 hours ago, WereCatf said:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with performing secure-erase on an SSD and it's a great way of quickly TRIMming the entire disc.

Assuming that the OS handles it correctly by sending a command instead of writing to the disk.

 

https://askubuntu.com/a/604447

[WereCatf]

53 minutes ago, njmyers3 said:

Assuming that the OS handles it correctly by sending a command instead of writing to the disk.

Well, simply overwriting everything on the disk isn't a secure-erase. If you were talking about just doing a dumb overwrite on the whole disk, then sure, it's not that smart with SSDs, but I was specifically talking about secure-erase.