Which secure erase software to use for C300 ?

N

nakedhand

2[H]4U
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
2,127
I have a Crucial C300 that needs a secure erase. I recently reinstalled windows, did a quick format (bad idea), and since then the system have been significantly slower.

So I am looking for the best possible secure eraser fit for this drive. Since it´s fairly popular here I thought some of you guys might have a few suggestions?

Freeware would be nice.
 
I would use Parted Magic, which has a utility for erasing disks.
 
You can even use ZFSguru. :D

But take note to connect the SSD to a normal AHCI or IDE controller. For HDDErase.exe i guess your controller should be set to IDE. And yes TRIM can pass on both IDE and AHCI modes.
 
omniscence said:
As for invoking a "secure" erase, any linux live distro would do.
Click to expand...

Why do you put "secure" in quotes?

I assume you are thinking of issuing a secure erase with hdparm? It is a little bit involved, but should work. Some configurations will not work with a NULL password:

https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase

HDDErase may also work, but I have found that the BIOS of some computers just is not compatible:

http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml
 
He probably means that 'secure erase' used to be a command that prevents data recovery, while for SSDs this is used simply to restore performance but not destroy existing data. Secure erase does not write to all NAND surface, it just resets the mapping table so the SSD is regarded as unused or 100% free visible spare space.

Probably it would have been better to call the 'new' erase method something like 'performance erase' rather than the existing 'secure erase' which was meant to destroy data making it unrecoverable.
 
sub.mesa said:
Probably it would have been better to call the 'new' erase method something like 'performance erase' rather than the existing 'secure erase' which was meant to destroy data making it unrecoverable.
Click to expand...

"secure erase" is the name of a specific ATA command instruction. It is up to the ATA device what actually happens when it receives the ATA secure erase command. In the case of SSDs, they generally reset their internal LBA/flash-page mappings to a factory fresh state, and probably some take other actions as well, depending on the specific firmware implementation of each SSD.
 
The point is that on SSDs, a secure erase performed does not guarantee that (part of) the data cannot be recovered anymore. So what was once a security function, has now become a performance function but lost the 'security' aspect.

I believe that is why omniscence wrote 'secure' erase, because on SSDs it is not really a 'secure' erase anymore; but more like a performance reset.
 
sub.mesa said:
The point is that on SSDs, a secure erase performed does not guarantee that (part of) the data cannot be recovered anymore. So what was once a security function, has now become a performance function but lost the 'security' aspect.
Click to expand...

Well, since the result of receiving an ATA secure erase command is device dependent, there is no guarantee, in general, for ANY device, SSD or not, that the data will not be recoverable after the device has received the command.
 
omniscence said:
As for invoking a "secure" erase, any linux live distro would do.
Click to expand...

Im sadly on windows as I enjoy gaming with this machine. Had I still done serious work on my computer, I would have dived into Linux. Back when I needed it, it felt to complicated. What really scared me was a friend who was coding for the European Space Agency (specifically code systems on the ISS), who could not make his perfectly functioning DVD burner work in Linux. That scared me for ever... I know things are different these days and much more manageable.

sub.mesa said:
You can even use ZFSguru. :D

But take note to connect the SSD to a normal AHCI or IDE controller. For HDDErase.exe i guess your controller should be set to IDE. And yes TRIM can pass on both IDE and AHCI modes.
Click to expand...

Cool, it´s already on AHCI via ICHR10.

sub.mesa said:
The point is that on SSDs, a secure erase performed does not guarantee that (part of) the data cannot be recovered anymore. So what was once a security function, has now become a performance function but lost the 'security' aspect.

I believe that is why omniscence wrote 'secure' erase, because on SSDs it is not really a 'secure' erase anymore; but more like a performance reset.
Click to expand...

That´s how I meant it. Thanks for clarifying though. :)
 
nakedhand said:
Im sadly on windows as I enjoy gaming with this machine.
Click to expand...

When someone writes "linux live", the live part means that you run linux without necessarily installing it to your HDD. You can run it from a CD or USB stick, for example. Just temporary, to get the job done.
 
Yes, i hope all OS will get distributed with a LiveCD that is operational, and ability to install or even do some work from within the LiveCD.

Ubuntu is extremely useful; you can boot the livecd and get access to firefox (looking up stuff on internet) and disk partitioning (gparted) and other tools like RAID recovery.
 
john4200 said:
When someone writes "linux live", the live part means that you run linux without necessarily installing it to your HDD. You can run it from a CD or USB stick, for example. Just temporary, to get the job done.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks. I have zero knowledge of Linux. Sounds like something worth trying :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top