Wipe an SSD or encrypt it before wiping, DBAN does not work on SSDs?

Forums › Desktop computing › Wipe an SSD or encrypt it before wiping, DBAN does not work on SSDs?

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#286096 5-Jun-2021 15:20

When you run the reset and remove all data it supposedly does a wipe in Win 10? But thats just a format? Im not sure with the rebuild partition if it over writes the SSD to its original state which is like a wipe in itself?

If not, I thought about using DBAN, but last time I had to use it was 8+ years ago when people were saying there is no way to securely wipe an SSD, yet I seen some comments saying DBAN does work on SSDs now?

Lastly, how hard is it to encrypt a drive? I just need the password right. Welll wouldnt encrypting the drive before formatting or wiping be effectively as secure?

I dont have national secrets or anything haha, but like everyone I dont want my bank accounts and just privacy to be given away (especially if its to a close friend of the Mrs eeeeek, DBAN where are you when I need you).

I know the make and model, I thought maybe I could just find the brands own sanitising tool. My worry is making sure not to ovewrite the rebuild partition.

chevrolux

4962 posts

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Inactive user

#2718735 5-Jun-2021 18:25

Boot in to Linux off a live USB and just dd it if DBAN isn't an option?

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2718758 5-Jun-2021 19:46

chevrolux: Boot in to Linux off a live USB and just dd it if DBAN isn't an option?

Dont have DBAN on a USB stick. but some said originally DBAN, in fact no security wipe would work on SSDs, it seems that info is no longer correct? (it was 11 years back last I looked).

SomeoneSomewhere

1802 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2718760 5-Jun-2021 19:55

It will 'work' but may not wipe all areas of the disk, as SSDs (and many HDDs too) have caches and other areas that might not be directly written to, or compress the data so that they don't have to write to the whole disk, and so data could still persist.

You want to issue the drive an 'ATA SECURE ERASE' command, which tells the drive controller to wipe everything including caches.

As you might not trust the implementation of this, you could also consider overwriting the whole drive with random data 2-3x so that all the caches overflow along with any over-provisioning. Best to do both.

It depends on how paranoid you are. For sufficient levels of paranoia, you should use a shredder or bullet, and/or never write unencrypted data to the disk.

lxsw20

3552 posts

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Subscriber

#2718773 5-Jun-2021 21:27

Do some googling you'll see DBAN is not the right tool to use on an SSD. Most SSD manufacturers provide software to wipe an SSD.