Best way to go about wiping SSD's for new OS

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Mrnix

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I'm gonna be replacing my current copy of windows with a another one and I was told I'd need to wipe both my SSDs in order to start again with my new copy. It's Windows 7 Professional and my current version in use is an illegitimate version of Win 7 ultimate (which I purchased unknowing to be fake) off of ebay.
Best software to use to wipe the SSDs? How long will that take? 120gb and 240gb
Could I just wipe the SSD that contains the OS and just keep the secondary SSD drive as is?
I'm just looking for someone to point me in the right direction of how to go about it
Thanks a lot in advance and let me know if you need me to clear something up.

Edit: I only have a key for windows, not the disc so shall I need to install the OS on a CD?
 
Solution
JackNaylorPE
This is really a very straightforward process

Method 1

1. If you have access to a working windows installation besides the one on the SSD you want to wipe, then just wipe the SSD using Disk Manager according to the link above

http://www.hardcoreware.net/secure-erase-ssd-in-windows/

2. Disconnect the data cable for SSD No. 1 and install Windows from the ISO on the USB stick to the SSD just as if it was brand new outta the box.

Method 2

Follow the seven forums tutorial on "Windows 7: SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation"

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/119713-diskpart-pc-startup.html?ltr=D
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

It's simpler than the tutorial...
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Mrnix

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My OS is on a 120gb Mushkin Chronos Deluxe
My secondary drive is a 250gb Samsung 840 Evo, which I know came with Samsung magician software. Don't believe the Chronos Deluxe came with anything
 
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JackNaylorPE

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My son has a Chronos Deluxe...used to wipe his every XMas holiday and install new. Just stuck the OS DVD in, let it format the drive and reinstalled. Since you are reusing the SSD, have no need for a "secure erase" and doing such is unnecessary and unadvisable, since there's no garbage collection issues on the Chronos
 
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Mrnix

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So just pop in a CD/USB with the OS ISO and it'll prompt me to wipe the drive? Will that interfere with my second drive? If so, not to big of an issue, I wouldn't mind wiping both and starting fresh since my second drive has samsung magician which wipes it for me
 
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jakegroves

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ALWAYS wipe your your SSD safely, a HDD stores files in a physical location. which is accessed by a mechanical arm. SSDs however use a communication data map with storage locations, no phyiscal locations, and software cannot specify target sections on it. So no-one will ever know where it ever is on the SSD. Because of this. it always moves data so all parts worn at n equal rate. So ... using an OS disk to format will harm ur SSD because of using too many writes. you can use the manufacturer software to 'trim', if you cannot find one do an ATA secure erase, you will be forced to do it manually.
 
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Mrnix

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Alright cool, so the plan is, rip Win7 professional on a CD or USB, unplug all drives other than the drive I want the OS to be installed on, insert the CD/USB containing the OS ISO in the PC and then let it wipe the drive and install the new OS?
 
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Mrnix

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So whats the best way to wipe my SSD? I don't care about privacy countermeasures since I'm just gonna be reusing the drive. I just wanna wipe it clean and then install a new copy of Windows on it, as if it were roughly a brand new drive.
 
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JackNaylorPE

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Why ? I have reinstalled Windows hundreds of times and never did this once, exactly what do you gain by doing so ? The purpose of a secure erase is to make data unrecoverable using forensic techniques .... which is not required here. Even without a secure erase, all data can be unrecoverable in as little as 3 minutes which is why law enforcenent types don't like SSDs

http://www.geek.com/gadgets/ssds-make-data-unrecoverable-by-law-enforcement-1357913/
 
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turkey3_scratch

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I am fairly sure that reformatting does not actually wipe the old files by changing all the bits to 0, but rather clears the file system and all references to those files so they cannot be found (even though their data may still be there scattered. It's like spilling jelly beans from two jars all over the floor and then trying to put them back into the right jars). Correct me if wrong, but that's how I thought it all worked. The partition entries are all erased.
 
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JackNaylorPE

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Depends on Quick Format versus Full Format. In the ole days a full format didn't do this but modern OS's do zero out the entire drive

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/difference-windows-full-format-quick-format-technology-explained/


full format completely wipes your hard drive. After a full format, there shouldn’t be any recoverable data left that a program could sniff out.

A full format also checks the hard drive for bad sectors. If you haven’t switched out your hard drive for a newer one, your old computer will have a hard drive that will most likely be, well, old. Old things, as we know, tend to break more often, depending on what it is. Therefore, old hard drives are more prone to getting bad sectors (although the possibility can still exist for brand new hard drives, provided data was written onto the hard drive in a way where it becomes corrupt
Click to expand...

http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2011/06/28/regular-vs-quick-format-in-windows-7/

According to Microsoft, a quick format in Windows Vista/7 doesn’t actually erase any of the file data currently on the drive. Instead, it creates a new file table which is used to let the system know where files are on the disk. A file recovery program can usually recover files after a quick format has been performed unless the physical data has been overwritten by new information after the fact. For example, a quick format is like taking the table of contents out of a book. The information is still there, at least until pages are replaced by different text later on. One big advantage to a quick format is in a case where you don’t have a lot of time — and you plan to keep the drive for later use.

A regular format does quite a bit more. Unlike previous versions of Windows that deleted the tables and checked for bad sectors, Windows Vista and Windows 7 actually perform a rewrite pass over the entire drive. This adds a level of security to the process and gives your drive a fresh start for new data. At anywhere between a few minutes and several hours, this process takes quite a bit longer than the quick format, which can be done in a matter of seconds.
Click to expand...

http://superuser.com/questions/91918/what-are-the-disadvantages-if-any-of-doing-a-quick-format-when-repartitioning

As an expert in data recovery at http://www.memofixdatarecovery.com I can tell you with 100% accuracy, that no one can recover data from a full regular format using Windows 7 or Vista. It re-writes every sector with zeroes prior to installing a fresh format and index (called the MFT or master file table).

However in previous versions of Windows like XP, a full regular format does not overwrite every sector and only re-initializes the sections of the MFT that deals with meta or system files and tests for bad sectors.

With a quick format in either XP, Vista or Windows7, the data is recoverable (using a simple software recovery program) as again only the small system portion of the MFT is overwritten. User data and file pointers remain intact
Click to expand...


Start the Format and go to bed..... I recently did this with my son's 120 GB SSD...it had "failed" and he just started using the backup OS he had on a partition on his HD. He tried quick format several times w/ no luck.... he tried a full format and it still wouldn't install windows. I then popped it into one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153133

and full formatted it from my box, it's now working again but don't ask me why the external docking station did that wasn't working on his box.... my guess is that there was some ghost of something remaining that the Windows install disk didn't like.
 
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ex_bubblehead

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Secure Erase sets the drive back to factory condition. Yes, it makes the data unrecoverable, but, it resets everything back to the condition it was in when it left the factory, including performance. Why not start fresh?

BTW, with more current load leveling firmware, data starts to become unrecoverable almost immediately after a delete.
 
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Mrnix

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Ok cool, so the best thing to do is just re-format the drive? I don't care about anything being recoverable. I don't particularly mind a slight performance dip, either, I just wanna wipe it easily. Do I need a programme to reformat it properly? Or can I do that within windows?
Also, I have some blank CDs I can put the OS on but I can't find out how much storage they have on them because they aren't appearing in my documents? Like below the drives? http://prntscr.com/7a7p3y

 
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Mrnix

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Whats the easiest way to do this?
 
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JackNaylorPE

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While this is necessary with older SSDs that do not support garbage collection and TRIM, it is unnecessary with modern SSDs. The format restores the drive to factory condition....even they say with Quick Format because either triggers the TRIM command

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2229939

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829/15

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2278804

Here's another source:

http://www.hardcoreware.net/secure-erase-ssd-in-windows/

The only way to get an SSD to work as well as it did when it was fresh out of the box is to have it running with flash that has absolutely no information on it. This is because flash needs to be erased before it is written to, and if it is nothing but ‘zeroes’ this step is skipped.
Click to expand...

Note that the term "Secure Erase"\is used frequently even tho no secure erase function has taken place

Note: We use the term ‘secure erase’ to describe the drive entering a ‘fresh state’ which means the NAND is wiped clean. While the instructions here don’t technically describe a true ‘secure erase’ the end result is identical.

To secure erase an SSD in Windows, first run the Windows Computer Management application, and go to Disk Management (in Windows 8, simply right click the bottom left corner in Desktop mode, and start Disk Management).

Find the drive you need to secure erase, and delete all partitions from it:

Simply right click the partition, click “Remove Partition” and it will warn you that the data will be wiped. The drive will now look like this:

The next step is to recreate a new partition. Right click on the unallocated space, create a new “Simple Drive” and follow the steps. Default settings are best.

Your drive is now fully trimmed, and filled with zeros!
Click to expand...

They then go and do testing to prove the point, which they do rater soundly and conclude with

Performance is right back where it should be. This confirms that using TRIM to secure erase your drive is effective, and the easiest method to do so.
Click to expand...

So why full format ? AFAIK, this is the only way to find and mark bad sectors from the getgo w/o SSD manufacturer supplied utilities. Tho it was my understanding that SSDs are smart and avoid writing to such things.

Deleting the partitions and then recreating the new volume / partition therefore seems to be the fastest method of "factory restore" available.
 
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JackNaylorPE

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http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Crucial-SSDs/Question-about-Trim-and-deleted-files/td-p/121948

Anytime a file is deleted, the space that file occupied was trimmed.

The trick in understanding this is to understand how the recycle bin works. When you send something to the receycle bin, you have NOT deleted it. Instead, you have just moved it to a special folder (called $Recycle.Bin)

It's when you actually empty it that it counts as deleting. And any other method of deleting files* will also trim, whether it be shift+deleting to avoid the bin, programs deleting files for you (such as uninstallers or cleaning up their own temp files) or overwriting.

You don't need to do anything to help trim. And even if you did, all modern SSD's have built in automatic garbage collection to look after themselves when you don't have trim (such as old OS's).

If you do want to manually invoke a trim of all your free space, don't do it by writing a large sequential file. That will add unnecessary wear to the drive. Not a major issue on modern drives but still!

Instead, if you have Windows 8, use the drive optimiser. If you have Windows 7, use a free space trimmer such as: http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/SSD-Tool-free-space-trimmer/m-p/51198

They're more efficient wear wise and much faster time wise at trimming the free space.
Click to expand...
 
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Mrnix

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Where can I download an up to date version of windows 7 professional to burn to a CD?
 
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