How to wipe SSD drive in 7460 computers before returning

James Robeson

Where are the instructions for securely wiping SSD drive's?

We will be returning 6 computers shortly.

Thanks,

Jim Robeson, Monterey CA Center

RobertLeighPritchett

Well, there is this

https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/secure-erase-ssd-or-hard-drive

I think you are referring to DBAN, which is linked in the article above.

For Hard Drive erasing.

"The best way to make sure an old-fashioned mechanical hard drive is securely erased is to overwrite it with dummy data multiple times. There's a popular freeware app called DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) that writes to all the sectors using secure sanitization methods. 

DBAN is its own boot environment (no OS necessary) so you can use it to securely erase the boot drive on a computer without taking that drive out and attaching it to another PC. However, if the hard drive you're wiping is not the boot drive, you must be very careful when using DBAN so that you don't accidentally wipe the wrong drive."...

Does DBAN work on SSDs?

RobertLeighPritchett

DBAN does NOT work on SSDs https://superuser.com/questions/1745090/why-dban-cannot-erase-data-on-ssd

What DELL has to say about erasing SSD drives https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000150908/data-removal-processes-for-a-solid-state-hard-drive

When I worked as a contractor to Amazon we took out solid state memory and drilled holes in them from routers and other network gear before returning the units to the manufacturers. For returning computer equipment to FamilySearch for repurposing, we do not need to be that drastic.

James Robeson

I found the information we need at churchpcsurplus.com

RobertLeighPritchett

I had no idea that site existed. Thank you!

Ken Richins - NA FSCS Specialty Lead

That site is also used to dispose or return FSC Computers when you get replacements.