How to fully delete all data from SSD before returning it to the manufacturer?

Sephirote · Oct 3, 2022

Hi everyone,

I have to return a faulty XPS 15 under warranty for replacement but before sending it back I would like to fully delete all data from the SSD.
I have stored sensitive information on the SSD and I want to completely delete all data from the SSD with no way for anyone to retrieve any data from said SDD.

I know that when we delete files on windows, they are actually not deleted from the SSD per se, it's only deindexed and will be deleted only when something overwrites it.

I have heard of low-level formatting for HDDs but am unsure if it also applies to SSDs.

What about deleting partitions? Is it enough or will the data still be technically on the SSD?

SSD is PM9A1 NVMe Samsung 1024GB using IRST drivers

Thanks

PerpetualCycle · Oct 3, 2022

Since there is a level of indirection with the store blocks on SSD, it is not simple to erase the data on them. You will want to "secure erase" the SSD. That will erase all blocks on the SSD, even the ones that are not in use but have data still on them. Samsung has utilities to to this but I am not familiar with this model. Secure erase is the only way to reliably erase all of your data,

SIW2 · Oct 3, 2022

The manufacturer software has a sanitize function. I dont know if samsung magician works with that disk.

There is a program in parted magic that can do it. There might be other similar things out there.

kgarrett67 · Oct 3, 2022

Check this link out. Maybe it will help you.

[Free] Best Low Level Format Tool in Windows 11/10/8/7

HDD Low-level format tool helps you to perform the low-level format of a SATA, IDE, SAS, SCSI, or SSD produced by Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Western Digital, and other manufacturers. Besides, EaseUS Partition Master assists you in partitioning and high-level format your hard...

www.easeus.com

imanlien2020 · Oct 3, 2022

Sephirote said:
Hi everyone,

I have to return a faulty XPS 15 under warranty for replacement but before sending it back I would like to fully delete all data from the SSD.
I have stored sensitive information on the SSD and I want to completely delete all data from the SSD with no way for anyone to retrieve any data from said SDD.

I know that when we delete files on windows, they are actually not deleted from the SSD per se, it's only deindexed and will be deleted only when something overwrites it.

I have heard of low-level formatting for HDDs but am unsure if it also applies to SSDs.

What about deleting partitions? Is it enough or will the data still be technically on the SSD?

SSD is PM9A1 NVMe Samsung 1024GB using IRST drivers

Thanks

Read this...
BitRaser File Eraser

hsehestedt · Oct 3, 2022

You can accomplish this with diskpart.

If the drive in question is your C: drive, then you will need to boot from external media such as a USB Flash Drive (UFD). Here is an example of how I would do this:

1) Create a Windows installation UFD and boot from it.
2) When you get to the first static screen where setup is asking for information from you, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt.
3) At the command prompt, run "diskpart".
4) Once diskpart has started run the command "list disk"

NOTE: If there is only a single drive in the system, you should see disk 0 as the SSD.

5) Run the command "select disk 0". Replace the 0 with the ID shown for your SSD in the "list disk" command.
6) Run the command "clean all".

This will write zeros to every block on the disk, wiping out any and all data that was previously stored there.

PerpetualCycle · Oct 3, 2022

hsehestedt said:
You can accomplish this with diskpart.

If the drive in question is your C: drive, then you will need to boot from external media such as a USB Flash Drive (UFD). Here is an example of how I would do this:

1) Create a Windows installation UFD and boot from it.
2) When you get to the first static screen where setup is asking for information from you, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt.
3) At the command prompt, run "diskpart".
4) Once diskpart has started run the command "list disk"

NOTE: If there is only a single drive in the system, you should see disk 0 as the SSD.

5) Run the command "select disk 0". Replace the 0 with the ID shown for your SSD in the "list disk" command.
6) Run the command "clean all".

This will write zeros to every block on the disk, wiping out any and all data that was previously stored there.

That will not delete everything on an SSD.

hsehestedt · Oct 3, 2022

geneo said:
That will not delete everything on an SSD.

Yes it will. EVERYTHING.

Go into diskpart and run "help clean". Notice the description for the "ALL" parameter.

NavyLCDR · Oct 4, 2022

geneo said:
That will not delete everything on an SSD.

Yes, it will. It writes zeros to every cell.

NavyLCDR · Oct 4, 2022

Also note that low level formatting the SSD may void the manufacturer's warranty. Low level formatting is beyond the "normal use" of the SSD and typically warranties only cover failures that occur during normal use.

Sephirote · Oct 5, 2022

hsehestedt said:
You can accomplish this with diskpart.

If the drive in question is your C: drive, then you will need to boot from external media such as a USB Flash Drive (UFD). Here is an example of how I would do this:

1) Create a Windows installation UFD and boot from it.
2) When you get to the first static screen where setup is asking for information from you, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt.
3) At the command prompt, run "diskpart".
4) Once diskpart has started run the command "list disk"

NOTE: If there is only a single drive in the system, you should see disk 0 as the SSD.

5) Run the command "select disk 0". Replace the 0 with the ID shown for your SSD in the "list disk" command.
6) Run the command "clean all".

This will write zeros to every block on the disk, wiping out any and all data that was previously stored there.

Awesome, thanks for the clear instruction.
That sounds like exactly what I needed.

I will do that in a few days and will provide an update.

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

SIW2 · Oct 5, 2022

Using the secure erase or sanitize functions is best. Though perhaps you dont care about a lot of writing to it if you are returning the disk, in which case use one of the other suggestions.

jimbo45 · Oct 6, 2022

geneo said:
Since there is a level of indirection with the store blocks on SSD, it is not simple to erase the data on them. You will want to "secure erase" the SSD. That will erase all blocks on the SSD, even the ones that are not in use but have data still on them. Samsung has utilities to to this but I am not familiar with this model. Secure erase is the only way to reliably erase all of your data,

You need to write x'00' or random hex digits on every data area on the ssd. Plenty of utilities out there You need to write these as physical data blocks, not under control of any file system such as ntfs, xfs, ext4 or whatever.

cheers
jimbo

hdmi · Oct 6, 2022

zbook · Oct 6, 2022

This is a tutorial on running clean all:

Erase Disk using Diskpart Clean Command in Windows 10

How to Erase a Disk using Diskpart Clean Command in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

Code:

The clean all command performs the same action as the clean command above,
but includes to specify that each and every sector on the disk is zeroed (secure erase),
which completely deletes all data contained on the disk.
This will make the data on the disk unrecoverable.
It will take about an hour per 320 GB to finish running the "clean all" command on a disk.

Code:

You will not be able to run the clean or clean all command on the disk that
Windows is installed on unless you do so in a command prompt at boot.

Open Command Prompt at Boot in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to open an elevated command prompt at boot in Windows 11. The Command shell is an entry point for typing commands in the Command Prompt console window. By typing commands at the command prompt, you can perform tasks on your computer without using the Windows GUI...

www.elevenforum.com

hdmi · Oct 6, 2022

NavyLCDR said:
Yes, it will. It writes zeros to every cell.

No, it won't. Modern SSDs use data deduplication and compression to improve transfer speeds, to increase the amount of dynamic overprovisioning and to reduce write amplification. As a consequence, writing zeros to the SSD will only cause those zeros to be subjected to the hardware compression, that is an inherent part of the controller chip. What's more, data that only contains zeros has a very low entropy. It means that the effective compression ratio will be very high (and close to 100%). As a direct result from this, the number of cells (or pages, as cells can not be written individually in NAND) that will be written will be incredibly small, thus leaving all the sensitive data stored in NAND. That in fact is why the Secure Erase command exists anyway in the first place. Its entire purpose is to securely erase persistent old myths that continue to ride across various corners of the internet. lol

jimbo45 · Oct 6, 2022

hdmi said:
No, it won't. Modern SSDs use data deduplication and compression to improve transfer speeds, to increase the amount of dynamic overprovisioning and to reduce write amplification. As a consequence, writing zeros to the SSD will only cause those zeros to be subjected to the hardware compression, that is an inherent part of the controller chip. What's more, data that only contains zeros has a very low entropy. It means that the effective compression ratio will be very high (and close to 100%). As a direct result from this, the number of cells (or pages, as cells can not be written individually in NAND) that will be written will be incredibly small, thus leaving all the sensitive data stored in NAND. That in fact is why the Secure Erase command exists anyway in the first place. Its entire purpose is to securely erase persistent old myths that continue to ride across various corners of the internet. lol

As I said - this needs to be done under control of a stand alone utility -- not under any specific OS or file system and has to physically have access to the actual firmware of the device --not under ny specific file system. Akin to old HDD "Low level formatting" in the Disks I/O controller cache etc.

There's specific utilities around for this. My view in any case if the data is that sensitive why would you want to return the device to the manufacturer. OK you might want some money back in the case of defective hardware but depending on the price and the type, value and security of your data it might be better just to dispose of the device and "eat" the cost. Things these days like AZURE (Ms's cloud service) aren't that expensive, have military strength security and IMO are ideal places for storing that type of content.

If it's robust enough for CIA, NSA and NATO certification I'd be happy to use it too if I needed to keep secure data away from prying eyes or possible loss on defective hardware.

Cloud servers have moved on massively both in security and speed in the last 2 years. Not sure if Azure since the date of its inception has ever been hacked.

Cheers
jimbo

hdmi · Oct 6, 2022

jimbo45 said:
As I said - this needs to be done under control of a stand alone utility -- not under any specific OS or file system and has to physically have access to the actual firmware of the device --not under ny specific file system. Akin to old HDD "Low level formatting" in the Disks I/O controller cache etc.

There's specific utilities around for this. My view in any case if the data is that sensitive why would you want to return the device to the manufacturer. OK you might want some money back in the case of defective hardware but depending on the price and the type, value and security of your data it might be better just to dispose of the device and "eat" the cost. Things these days like AZURE (Ms's cloud service) aren't that expensive, have military strength security and IMO are ideal places for storing that type of content.

If it's robust enough for CIA, NSA and NATO certification I'd be happy to use it too if I needed to keep secure data away from prying eyes or possible loss on defective hardware.

Cloud servers have moved on massively both in security and speed in the last 2 years. Not sure if Azure since the date of its inception has ever been hacked.

Cheers
jimbo

Filesystem or no filesystem, doesn't make a shred of difference. The hardware compression still processes the raw data nevertheless. The CIA can't change this fact. Maybe the NSA can, but something tells me they probably won't. As for NATO, that is a political organization. I am a Belgian, so I don't trust in politics. I am also a Java Enterprise software developer who works as a consultant for large corporations, any and all of which are known to keep meticulously avoiding Azure when it comes to their most critical, core strategic data applications even today. There is a reason why they all decided to completely ignore Azure in this regard. But something tells me you probably wouldn't like the explanation of that.

jimbo45 · Oct 6, 2022

hdmi said:
Filesystem or no filesystem, doesn't make a shred of difference. The hardware compression still processes the raw data nevertheless. The CIA can't change this fact. Maybe the NSA can, but something tells me they probably won't. As for NATO, that is a political organization. I am a Belgian, so I don't trust in politics. I am also a Java Enterprise software developer who works as a consultant for large corporations, any and all of which are known to keep meticulously avoiding Azure when it comes to their most critical, core strategic data applications even today. There is a reason why they all decided to completely ignore Azure in this regard. But something tells me you probably wouldn't like the explanation of that.

Hi there
I'd be interested of course. Worked loads of gigs in Brussels and Antwerp (EU commission, NATO itself, Euroclear (financial clearing systems), Antwerp Port logistics systems etc etc). Politics is always hideous wherever and in Belgium there's the problem of Flemish parliament, French Parliament and Brussels aggregation authority (whatever it's called these days) so I can understand why a load don't trust politicians.

Anyway would be interested. Remember also some organisations avoid or use certain products or services based on other factors than whether it's the most appropriate service or not. For example how many organisations still run Mac Affee (Knows as Mac Awful) A/V software when every man and his dog know it's just the worse thing around.

BTW NATO is essentially a Military organisation rather than a purely political one although different countries input their views into it of course.

Cheers
jimbo