Solved Secure erase not working?

MK77P · Jun 23, 2023

I've done a secure erase for my SSD's many times, just now for the first time I'm experiencing an issue where doing a secure erase does not seem to be working, every time in the past when doing a secure erase to one of my SSD's it would vanish from the explorer and I would format it and set it up from Computer Management but this time doing secure erase for the SSD did nothing, the drive still shows in the explorer as if I did nothing, what could be the problem?

EDIT: Does being connected to the internet or not have anything to do with secure erasing a SSD?

MK77P · Jun 23, 2023

I've tried to secure erase it a few times now and it worked after a couple of tries, so gave it a fast format and tested it again and the same issue accrued again, there seems to be a problem here as the SSD isn't being secure erased from the first try, could the SSD be damaged or?

I'm using the secure erase from the MB BIOS.
Kingston KC600 1TB

wiganken · Jun 23, 2023

Have you tried a third-party secure erase?
Example but there are others that do similar: - Free Download - Privacy Eraser

zebal · Jun 23, 2023

~~In your screenshot shows "Health" tab which is drawn in red color, have you checked it?~~

Use crystaldiskinfo to check disk and post screenshot:

CrystalDiskInfo

About CrystalDiskInfo A HDD/SSD utility software which supports a part of USB, Intel RAID and NVMe. Aoi Edition Standard Edition Shizuku Edition Kurei Kei Edition Download System Requirements OS Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10/11Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019/2022 Architecture x86/x64/ARM64...

crystalmark.info

MK77P · Jun 23, 2023

wiganken said:
Have you tried a third-party secure erase?
Example but there are others that do similar: - Free Download - Privacy Eraser

This issue just began today, using the same SSD and the same MB for a few years now with the use of secure erase from BIOS and nothing like this happened before.

zebal said:
~~In your screenshot shows "Health" tab which is drawn in red color, have you checked it?~~

Use crystaldiskinfo to check disk and post screenshot:

CrystalDiskInfo

About CrystalDiskInfo A HDD/SSD utility software which supports a part of USB, Intel RAID and NVMe. Aoi Edition Standard Edition Shizuku Edition Kurei Kei Edition Download System Requirements OS Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10/11Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019/2022 Architecture x86/x64/ARM64...

crystalmark.info

TM21 · Jun 23, 2023

I have found just one single Problem in this whole thread.... "Kingston".
After 40+ years as a computer tech, that is one name I refuse to deal with.

Get your next SSD from Crucial, get a lifetime warranty and have NO MORE problems.

zebal · Jun 23, 2023

If I would be in your place my troubleshooting would be to enter BIOS and study out options, then toggle those which might look like a problem to perform secure erase.

hdmi · Jun 24, 2023

https://media.kingston.com/support/downloads/secure-erase-user-guide_ksm.pdf

MK77P · Jun 26, 2023

hdmi said:
https://media.kingston.com/support/downloads/secure-erase-user-guide_ksm.pdf

Thanks I'm about to do it with the Kingston Manager but now there's a new problem for me, secure erase in the manager is unavailable because it says that I should:

"Right-click on each partition on your disk and select Delete Volume until all partitions have been removed"

When opening Disk Management the SSD doesn't have any partitions to delete?

FreeBooter · Jun 26, 2023

In this guide, let me walk you through the process of shredding files and deleting files and folders securely in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

hdmi · Jun 26, 2023

MK77P said:
Thanks I'm about to do it with the Kingston Manager but now there's a new problem for me, secure erase in the manager is unavailable because it says that I should:

"Right-click on each partition on your disk and select Delete Volume until all partitions have been removed"

When opening Disk Management the SSD doesn't have any partitions to delete?

Open an elevated command prompt, type in diskpart and press Enter. The command prompt will be changed to DISKPART> to indicate that you are now using the Diskpart utility.

Type in list disk and press Enter, and look for the correct index number of the SSD.
Type in select disk 1 and press Enter (this is assuming that 1 is the correct index number).

If you are in doubt, you can now type in detail disk and press Enter to get an overview of details about the disk that you have selected. So, it is still possible to select a different disk by using the same command while specifying a different index number (like, e.g., select disk 0 and press Enter) if needed─just type in detail disk and press Enter again after that, and look at the details again to see if they match the SSD that you intend to erase. So, you really need to be sure to select the correct disk before you proceed with the next step (that erases the disk). You don't want to erase the wrong disk so that's why.

Finally, after you have double-checked (or triple-checked) that the currently selected disk is the one that you want erased, type in clean and press Enter. (Once you press Enter, all the partitions will be deleted from the disk, immediately, and without any warning.)

You should now be able to use the Secure Erase method from Kingston without problems.

IanMosley · Jun 26, 2023

I use Eraser & never had any issues running it,

hdmi · Jun 26, 2023

IanMosley said:
I use Eraser & never had any issues running it,

It doesn't secure erase an SSD at all. To make matters only worse, it can reduce an SSD's lifespan as a result of writing lots of unnecessary data. That is, writing all this data essentially is useless, exactly BECAUSE it does not secure erase an SSD.

MK77P · Jun 26, 2023

hdmi said:
Open an elevated command prompt, type in diskpart and press Enter. The command prompt will be changed to DISKPART> to indicate that you are now using the Diskpart utility.

Type in list disk and press Enter, and look for the correct index number of the SSD.
Type in select disk 1 and press Enter (this is assuming that 1 is the correct index number).

If you are in doubt, you can now type in detail disk and press Enter to get an overview of details about the disk that you have selected. So, it is still possible to select a different disk by using the same command while specifying a different index number (like, e.g., select disk 0 and press Enter) if needed─just type in detail disk and press Enter again after that, and look at the details again to see if they match the SSD that you intend to erase. So, you really need to be sure to select the correct disk before you proceed with the next step (that erases the disk). You don't want to erase the wrong disk so that's why.

Finally, after you have double-checked (or triple-checked) that the currently selected disk is the one that you want erased, type in clean and press Enter. (Once you press Enter, all the partitions will be deleted from the disk, immediately, and without any warning.)

You should now be able to use the Secure Erase method from Kingston without problems.

hdmi · Jun 26, 2023

MK77P said:

Manage Virtual Memory Paging File in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to manage the virtual memory paging file for each drive on your Windows 10 and Windows 11 PC. A paging file (aka: "page file" and "virtual memory") enables the system to remove infrequently accessed modified data from physical memory to let the system use...

www.elevenforum.com

(According to the Disk Management screenshot you posted earlier, the specific drive to remove the pagefile from has drive letter D: )

MK77P · Jun 26, 2023

hdmi said:
Manage Virtual Memory Paging File in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to manage the virtual memory paging file for each drive on your Windows 10 and Windows 11 PC. A paging file (aka: "page file" and "virtual memory") enables the system to remove infrequently accessed modified data from physical memory to let the system use...

www.elevenforum.com

(According to the Disk Management screenshot you posted earlier, the specific drive to remove the pagefile from has drive letter D: )

Done thank you but now there's a new issue, the SSD is frozen and the manual says that I either put the PC to sleep or unplugging then replugging the SATA cable in order to get it out of the freeze lock, did one at a time and both methods did not help?

hdmi · Jun 26, 2023

Either it's because your BIOS is using a password (in the Security sub-menu) that might be causing the SSD to be protected or it's because you need to go in the Advanced sub-menu ➜ Integrated Peripherals sub-menu ➜ look for an option to change the connection mode for the Kingston to AHCI Legacy ATA Mode.

hdmi · Jun 26, 2023

In your BIOS, your SATA controller has selectable modes of operation. Typically these are:
IDE - In this context, it simply means to use 'legacy' ATA operation mode. It can also be referred to as 'IDE emulation', which itself is misleading, as explained earlier, all SATA drives are themselves IDE devices. For using multiple independent drives, this mode of operation can be selected. Note there is no performance 'loss' using this.
From: IDE, SATA, AHCI, SSDs and TRIM: all you need to know | MSI HQ User-to-User FAQ

hdmi · Jun 26, 2023

Also, when you unplug the cable you need to unplug it from the SSD (not the motherboard).

EDIT: ...and also you need to unplug/replug it while the computer is on (and you have entered the BIOS settings). Maybe in addition to this, it could also be that Hot Plug capability has to be enabled for the SATA port that the Kingston is hooked up to or else it might not be able to re-detect the Kingston when you plug the cable back in. As for enabling 'legacy' ATA mode, on modern MSI motherboards I think that AHCI mode is all that should be needed in this regard.

MK77P · Jun 26, 2023

hdmi said:
Also, when you unplug the cable you need to unplug it from the SSD (not the motherboard).

EDIT: ...and also you need to unplug/replug it while the computer is on (and you have entered the BIOS settings). Maybe in addition to this, it could also be that Hot Plug capability has to be enabled for the SATA port that the Kingston is hooked up to or else it might not be able to re-detect the Kingston when you plug the cable back in. As for enabling 'legacy' ATA mode, on modern MSI motherboards I think that AHCI mode is all that should be needed in this regard.

Yes I did it while the PC was ON and also while in BIOS nothing worked. No password used in BIOS. Unplugged the cables from the SSD. I've enabled hot plug for SATA2 which is where this SSD is and it's already in AHCI (SATA Mode [AHCI Mode])...still did not unlock from freeze.

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