Cannot format my pny SSD no matter what HELP!

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sniper7777777

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Sep 22, 2014
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cannot format my pny SSD no matter what HELP!

even my old files are still on the drive after i completely deleted it and formatted many times still nothing
 
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RealBeast
Yup, it is unfortunate but at least it didn't take any data with it -- plus it gives you a chance to get a nice big new SSD on Black Friday. Prices have really come down this year, I've seen drives commonly in the 40 cent per GB range.
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RealBeast

RealBeast

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Sep 13, 2010
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What OS are you running?

I will assume a modern Windows like Vista, 7 or 8. I will also assume that it is not your OS disk.

Open an admin level command prompt, so right click and choose run as admin on the command prompt.

Then use diskpart commands:

diskpart
list disk
select disk n (where n = the PNY SSD)
clean all

Unlike a format, this will clean everything from the disk like a secure erase would do. And be *very* careful to select the correct disk, since whatever you select will be permanently wiped. Note that if the SSD has failed, it could now be a read only device. If this process does not completely erase it you may have that situation.
 
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sniper7777777

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Sep 22, 2014
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hey RealBeast thanks for the advice i actually have tried that already diskpart regular commands from a running o.s. also from windows installation media cmd if it erased and then wasn't usable it wouldn't be that weird but all my files are still on there even after certain format methods i used said the format was complete
 
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RealBeast

RealBeast

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No, that is often the way that SSDs fail -- the become read only and will no longer write, so you cannot erase anything without the ability to do a write. That is actually a good thing compared to HDDs, as you generally do not lose any files when the end comes for the SSD. A format would also not alter the files in this case.

This is the least common type of SSD failure as far as I can tell, and is due to the end of life of the NAND. Most of the time the controller fails and all data can be lost like with a HDD. This type failure is due to wearing of of the NAND and everything works fine until the drive experiences a sudden exponential increase of reallocated cells. It is less commonly seen with high quality NAND and very good controllers due to better wear leveling. Some drives will go beyond a petabyte before this happens.
 
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sniper7777777

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Sep 22, 2014
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well is there anything i can do? if i delete something it deletes until i restart my pc very weird
 
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RealBeast

RealBeast

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Not if the device is now read only.

I don't know if PNY has any secure erase software like Intel or Samsung, but if not you might also try DBAN (free from HERE just to be sure and if DBAN won't secure erase the drive it is definitely in a read only state and cannot be erased or used for anything other than reading the data on it).
 
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RealBeast

RealBeast

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Sep 13, 2010
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Yup, it is unfortunate but at least it didn't take any data with it -- plus it gives you a chance to get a nice big new SSD on Black Friday. Prices have really come down this year, I've seen drives commonly in the 40 cent per GB range.
 
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