Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB unable to use secure erase in Samsung Magician

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 10, 2015

Hi everyone. Apologies to those who are having their threads lost as I am asking so many questions here recently. After my fresh install of Windows 10 I am having issues trying to secure erase my SSD.

When I create a bootable USB (I have tried 3 different sticks) in Samsung Magician all seems fine and the system restarts, whoever the system just boots to windows normally. I have also tried all of the USB ports on my mobo out of desperation.

I need to reinstall Windows 10 again due to BSOD issues, probably due to trying to use Asus AI suite 3 to OC my system. Very unsuccessfully!

I also flashed the BIOS to the latest version before I tried the OC with AI suite.

I have tried disabling legacy in BIOS, no difference.

Also tried changing boot priority to USB but my system says no OS found please use Cntrl Alt Del to restart system. (which doesnt work either, had to use reset button on my case.

Does anyone know if this is perhaps a Windows 10 issue? I understand that Samsung may be bringing out a new version of magician this month. I am using version 4.7

I also tried changing from AHCI in BIOS to IDE, this didnt work either.

many thanks in advance for your replies!!

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2015

For the Secure Erase, you boot from the USB or CD that you created from the Magician.
It should then find your 250GB drive, and, after a couple of warnings, erase the drive completely.

Then you can reinstall the OS.

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 10, 2015

USAFret yes it should but it doesnt

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2015

MrBlackandWhite :

Doesn't find your SSD, or doesn't boot from the bootable thing you made?

glamdringfh · Oct 10, 2015

Sounds like it doesn't boot from the USB drive he's trying to make.

If your end goal is to simply re-install Windows 10 on the SSD you don't need to secure erase the drive. Just run your Windows 10 installer, reformat the SSD drive during installation, and you should be set.

Is there a particular reason why you wanted to securely erase the drive?

You should have the Sata ports your SSD is on running in AHCI mode. One thing to keep in mind is that Samsung Magician is incompatible with GPT partitioned disks, you need to use MBR.

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2015

Try a different USB port. Some systems will not boot directly from a USB 3.0 port.

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 10, 2015

"When I create a bootable USB (I have tried 3 different sticks) in Samsung Magician all seems fine and the system restarts, whoever the system just boots to windows normally. I have also tried all of the USB ports on my mobo out of desperation."

Yeh I make the USB my system boots after i press 'start' in magician and my system boots up normally

Rogue Leader · Oct 10, 2015

glamdringfh :

@MrBlackAndWhite here is your issue, we just went through in your other question installing Windows 10 on a GPT partition that you made, thats why it doesn't work.

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2015

MrBlackandWhite :

hmm...I just did this on one of my Samsungs last week.
Booting from that USB, the screen looks something like this?

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 10, 2015

Rogue ok glad you have found the reason for it, I would never have worked it out without many hours of research!

So what should I do? Convert to MBR? Or use GPT but get rid of magician or possibly have to buy another SSD?

USAFret I have used the erase feature before with win 8.1 i really cant remember what it looks like. Thank you though.

Rogue Leader · Oct 10, 2015

Depends on your goal, why do you need secure erase? You formatted the drive and wrote Win 10 back over it, so you're fine there. Its possible future versions of Magician may support it, so unless you have an overwhelming need to be able to secure erase the drive right now, I would say its not worth undoing all that you did just to be able to install Windows 10 before.

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2015

MrBlackandWhite :

If booting from that Secure Erase USB you made does NOT look like that above image, then you are not booting from that.

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 10, 2015

Rogue I have had lots of BSOD since new win 10 install. I tried also to OC system with Asus AI suite after updating BIOS. The only use AI suite seems to be for fan control. Sorry i digress!

I want a clean system and due to my limited knowledge of the tech involved I would rather be safe than having things left on there I guess.

let me get this right...

So my Z97-a motherboard is UEFI and that is a good thing right..

But my SSD does not support GPT (or is this just the magician software?)

Windows 10 is better on GPT?

Still confused sorry

Rogue Leader · Oct 10, 2015

Since the new install you have had issues?

Your Z97 is UEFI which is good, for UEFI you need to format your drive in GPT which is Supported by the drive (Just not Samsung Magician't secure erase feature). Win 10 sn't necessarily better on GPT, except that GPT is needed for UEFI compliance and if you want to partition a drive larger than 2.2 TB. There are other benefits that are not really notcieable to you.

Finally the only reason to secure erase is if you were selling or getting rid of the SSD, if you're going to continue to use it your new data will overwrite the old, and so it will therefore be securely erased.

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 10, 2015

Ok great. I play games mostly and browse internet. I would never need a partition that large. I like having a bare bones PC more or less with minimal clutter and minimal programms.

Yes lots of issues with new install of 10, but this is probably becuase I gave Asus AI suite 3 another go (didnt do anything in windows 8.1 other than cause BSOD when trying to use the features such as XMP or and tuning of cpu etc. Lots of BSOD yesterday

'bad_pool_header', 'irq not less or equal' you name it I got it

hence why I would like to sec erase, oh well.

Maybe I should just reistall windows and forget about trying to use XMP - very annoying ideed though I payed a fortune for 16GB of expensive DDR corsair version. Even the entry in the BIOS is 1330 when my DDR RAM is 1880hz. no idea why but this is another story I guess

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2015

First rule of overclocking and XMP:
Have a 100% stable base installation before you change anything.

Second rule:
Increase in tiny steps until you are satisfied, or it dies. If it dies, revert to settings before it died.

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 10, 2015

USAFret hi

I did have 100% stable system.

I still do. Or at least I think I do

I dont have the knowledge or time to maually OC and after my experience with the Z97-a I am not sure I want to either

Rogue Leader · Oct 10, 2015

I would say back it down to stock, Turn on XMP and leave it that way, have things stable for a while then try overclocking but only if you have time and patience. I wouldn't re-install windows yet. I would do it if you put everything back to stock and find that Windows is still not stable. Also regarding XMP are you sure your board supports the exact model of memory you have in XMP.

Automatic Overclocking tools like AiSuite generally always suck. I've never seen one that can give any great results and be stable as well.

As for Secure erase all it does is overwrite the bits that you wrote on. And as for GPT I would still use it, the benefits in the future for UEFI and so forth.

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 10, 2015

Hi Rogue.

I cant use XMP my sysstem just crashes and ends up in a constant reboot loop...indefinately, left it for over 45 mins once it didnt stop.

I am 100% positive I have compatible RAM no doubt whatever, right down to the manufacure date and serial number

Rogue Leader · Oct 11, 2015

Sometimes XMP needs different timings and other settings. What motherboard, ram model, etc do you have?

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 15, 2015

Hi Rogue..

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£165.54 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.86 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£105.59 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£74.00)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£83.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Vapor-X Video Card (£309.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master 690 III ATX Mid Tower Case (£74.03 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£94.99 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.79 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.09 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£239.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard (£104.00)
Mouse: ROCCAT Kone Pure Military Wired Optical Mouse (£56.99 @ Amazon UK)
Headphones: Razer Kraken Pro Headset (£73.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)

Had to get new RAM as suspected it was causing issues but issue still not solved after buying Corsair vengeance 2 x 8GB DDR3 part numbver: CMY16GX3M2A1866C9

I tried top ask in the officical Asus z97-a support thread but both my entries were deleted. How odd and unprofessional.

You know you guys mentioned the compatability issue with Samsung magician.....

I want to run memtest but I cant get Windows 10 to boot with the USB stick I setup. Boot priority changed in BIOS to usb. Have tried disabling legacy. Have tried every usb port on my PC. Have tried 3 different usb sticks. Still I cannot get memtest to run.

Rogue Leader · Oct 15, 2015

How did you go about creating the bootable USB?

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 15, 2015

Downloaded the memtest usb flash and copied it to a FAT32 formatted USB stick

'Image for creating bootable USB Drive'

Rogue Leader · Oct 15, 2015

It needs to be formatted with a boot record,

http://www.howtogeek.com/191054/how-to-create-bootable-usb-drives-and-sd-cards-for-every-operating-system/

scroll down to the bottom "With DOS" download rufus and make it that way.

MrBlackandWhite · Oct 15, 2015

Thank you Rogue! You have been so helpful. I remember when I ran it a long time ago it included a utility and formatted with a boot record.

Thank you again

i have the disk image memtest file, do I choose ISO in rufus?

Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB unable to use secure erase in Samsung Magician

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