If you are going to change your SSD and want to sell or throw away the old one , then we are going to teach you how to erase an SSD safely to ensure that the data it contained cannot be recovered. In addition, doing this process can increase its performance because it will return it to the factory condition, something that can be an incentive for a potential buyer.
Generally, while we use an SSD in the PC we don’t have to worry about doing any kind of maintenance because it already has a series of internal mechanisms for it. However, if you are going to sell it, the thing changes because even if you format it, there are ways to recover the data and that never interests us, for security. Therefore, we are going to see how to erase an SSD and make it impossible to restore your data .
How to Safely Erase an SSD
Fortunately, it is possible to erase an SSD safely and without damaging the drive or reducing its longevity (quite the opposite, in fact). The way to do this is through software so that instead of securely erasing all the data on the device, an SSD is “reset” to a clean memory state (not factory but almost).
The ” ATA Secure Erase ” command instructs the SSD to remove all stored electrons, a process that forces the device to “forget” all stored data. The command resets all available blocks to the “delete” state (which is also the state that the TRIM command uses to delete files and recycle blocks). Importantly, ATA Secure Erase does not write anything to the drive, so it does not increase its wear .
Erase SSD using manufacturer tools
Almost all SSD manufacturers have their own software to perform a secure erase of it, using the ATA Secure Erase command. Here is a list of the main manufacturers so you can download the one that suits you best:
- Intel Solid State Drive Toolbox
- Toshiba OCZ SSD Utility
- Corsair SSD Toolbox
- Samsung Magician SSD Tool
- SanDisk SSD Dashboard
- Crucial SSD Storage Executive
- Western Digital SSD Dashboard
- Seagate SeaTools bootable SSD utility
The manufacturer’s software is the first resource you should resort to to safely delete the data from your SSD, although you should bear in mind that if your SSD is old, it may not include the ATA Secure Erase command, for which you will have to go to next step of this article since the software will not be able to do it automatically.
Parted Magic, the option if you have an old SSD
Parted Magic is a Linux distribution that incorporates among its tools a wide cast to erase an SSD. It is true that this software has a cost of $ 11, but if you decide to buy it the license is perpetual and you will never have to pay anything else. In addition, Parted Magic is designed to install it on a USB pen drive and boot the PC from there, so you will not have to complicate your life installing it on a PC disk or anything like that.
These are the steps to follow if you decide to use this option:
- Download Parted Magic and create a bootable USB using Unetbootin .
- Start from the USB pen drive with the SSD you want to erase connected and choose option 1: Default Settings.
- Once it boots up, go to Start -> System Tools -> Erase Disk.
- Choose the option “Internal: Secure Erase command writes zeroes to entire data area”, and then confirm the device you want to erase.
- Confirm that you have understood the risks by clicking on the Yes button. Now it’s a matter of waiting, the software will do everything else.
