How to secure erase SSD in NUC 9

[heywheelie]

I have an Intel NUC 9 Extreme with a Samsung 870 Pro M.SSD

My problem is I can't find a way to Secure Erase it.  With previous computers I always used Parted Magic but the Intel NUC does not support the linux Parted Magic release and no other linux distro supports Secure Erase like Parted Magic.

I tried using Samsung Magician but the bootable USB it creates won't boot on the NUC.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheeers

[LeonWaksman]

You may try to secure erase your SSD from an elevated command prompt. 

In the elevated command prompt execute the following commands:

diskpart

Now, type the following in diskpart's prompt: list disk

next: select disk #  (where replace the # with the number of the SSD you want erase)

finally: clean all (The "clean all" command fills every sector on the disk with zeroes, so information can't be recovered.)

Leon

[n_scott_pearson]

If the SSD is (was) the system/boot drive and there is thus no O/S on the machine, then you need to pick a third-party product that can be UEFI booted. It sounds like this Parted Magic does not generate UEFI-bootable media (likely because based on older Linux). Here are some articles/products that discuss what you can do:

https://bigtechquestion.com/2021/03/08/software/how-do-i-securely-wipe-my-hard-drive-for-free/

https://www.wepc.com/how-to/securely-erase-an-ssd-drive/

Hope this helps,

...S

[LeonWaksman]

No need for third part tool or other complications. The clean all command will securely wipe any contents from the drive. If you don't have Windows installed,  you may get the Elevated Command prompt after booting from Windows Installation USB (which can be prepared using Microsoft Media Creation Tool

1.  Boot from your Windows 10 installation USB.
2.  Select your language preferences and click/tap on Next.
3.  Click/tap on Repair your computer at the bottom.
4.  Click/tap on Troubleshoot.
5.  Click/tap on Advanced options.
6. Click on Command Prompt
7. diskpart
8.  list disk
9. select disk #(where replace the # with the number of the SSD you want erase)
10. clean all

Leon

[heywheelie]

Thanks for the replies but the solutions provided are not quite what I was looking for.  I can already write the entire drive with 0and 1 using a boot disk from my Acronis Trueimage.  What I am after is a way to do a com[plete factory refresh of my Samsung 970 Pro M.SSD as achieved when using the Secure Erase of Parted Magic.

As stated on the Intel website, the Intel NUC only supports Ubuntu linux.  Any other linux distro just hangs on bootup.

I am hoping that maybe Intel will extend the linux compatibility but no luck so far.  Only Windows 10 and Ubuntu.  I am not sure it will even support the new Windows 11 but that's another matter.

My current problem is doing a quick factory refresh similar to Secure Erase with PartedMagic.

[David_G_Intel]

Hello @heywheelie

Intel does not provide recommendations this type of modifications since this is out of scope of support, you need to contact the SSD manufacturer for instructions on how to erase the disk (Factory refresh).

Please keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel. Thank you for your understanding.  

Regards, 

David G 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[heywheelie]

No problem.  I managed to get the latest release of Parted Magic to work and Secure Erase with it.  I am also going to experiment with getting the Samsung SecureErase to work.

cheers

wheelie