Question Can't delete contents of an SSD ?

[Dr-J]

Good day, I have an HIKVISION 240GB SSD on which I seem to be unable to delete its contents (Folders,files,etc.). I have tried using DISKPART and clean the selected disk. It shows that the execution is successful, but the folders are still there. I have also tried changing it into MBR because it is on GPT but throws me a message that it could not be changed into MBR. I have also tried deleting the partitions via Disk Management, again the partitions are still coming back.

I have tried using AOMEI Partition Assistant. it still has the same result. I was hoping I can finally delete it via changing the permissions into admin but after quick formatting, the contents have then come back. I did the quick format because there are about 100gb left on the SSD. What could be the possible reason the contents keep on coming back?

 

[COLGeek]

Look in your motherboard BIOS for a "secure wipe" feature/tool. You can use that to wipe the SSD (if present) and then re-partition as desired afterward.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Depending on how old it is (or perhaps just because), it may have entered the failure mode state where the controller pretends to have done things, but in reality nothing happened.

 

[Bob.B]

Good day, I have an HIKVISION 240GB SSD on which I seem to be unable to delete its contents (Folders,files,etc.). I have tried using DISKPART and clean the selected disk. It shows that the execution is successful, but the folders are still there. I have also tried changing it into MBR because it is on GPT but throws me a message that it could not be changed into MBR. I have also tried deleting the partitions via Disk Management, again the partitions are still coming back.

I have tried using AOMEI Partition Assistant. it still has the same result. I was hoping I can finally delete it via changing the permissions into admin but after quick formatting, the contents have then come back. I did the quick format because there are about 100gb left on the SSD. What could be the possible reason the contents keep on coming back?

If you try the bios secure wipe make sure this disk is the only disk connected.

 

[fzabkar]

Depending on how old it is (or perhaps just because), it may have entered the failure mode state where the controller pretends to have done things, but in reality nothing happened.

I was thinking the same (read-only mode). I would examine the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo.

 

[Dr-J]

Look in your motherboard BIOS for a "secure wipe" feature/tool. You can use that to wipe the SSD (if present) and then re-partition as desired afterward.

Hi! Thanks for this. The SSD seems to be formatted successfully. I have created a primary partition on the drive.
Disk Partition
I also tried restarting to see if the contents will come back gladly it doesn't.
But it seems the drive has a specific folder "Downloads". Screenshot Here
it has also a subfolder "Capture". I tried quick formatting and manual deletion, but it keeps on coming back. My OneDrive is also disabled. Are there any options to delete it?

 

[Dr-J]

Depending on how old it is (or perhaps just because), it may have entered the failure mode state where the controller pretends to have done things, but in reality nothing happened.

I see. It makes sense since SSDs tend to become slow overtime and will eventually reach that point. Thanks for the insight.

 

[Dr-J]

If you try the bios secure wipe make sure this disk is the only disk connected.

Thank you so much for letting me know, I was about to do it with my boot drive installed 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[Dr-J]

I was thinking the same (read-only mode). I would examine the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo.

Here are the results on the crystaldiskinfo before I did the secure erase.
Info1 Info2
I am not sure where to look at please tell me if there is something wrong with the SSD.

 

[CountMike]

Here are the results on the crystaldiskinfo before I did the secure erase.
Info1 Info2
I am not sure where to look at please tell me if there is something wrong with the SSD.

You'd get a hint if there are any caution (Yellow or Red) marks in SMART.

 

[Dr-J]

You'd get a hint if there are any caution (Yellow or Red) marks in SMART.

I see! thank you very much for the information, sir.

 

[fzabkar]

This Kingston document defines the raw value of the "SSD Protect Mode" attribute as 0 when normal, and 0xFF in Write Protect mode. Your [different] SSD has a value of 3 in this attribute, which would suggest it isn't normal. However, it may explain why the SSD is read-only.

https://media.kingston.com/kingston/pdf/SMART-attribute.pdf

The Bad Block Count, Spare Block Count Left and Reported UNC(orrectable) attributes have all dropped to 94, which says that the drive has started to degrade.

The Average Erase Count is 0x9A (= 154 decimal) but the minimum and maximum counts are 7 and 0x79E (= 1950 decimal). This would suggest that wear levelling is extremely poor.

The PHY Error Count is about 4000, which suggests that the SATA link is not the best. These errors would be corrected by retransmission, though.


Edit:

https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/24/2015011412561232-768777.pdf

SMART attribute ID list

ID (Hex)      Attribute Name      Note
------------------------------------------------------
167 (0xA7)    SSD Protect Mode    0: R/W, 3: Read Only   <--   Your SSD is in read-only mode

 

[Dr-J]

This Kingston document defines the raw value of the "SSD Protect Mode" attribute as 0 when normal, and 0xFF in Write Protect mode. Your [different] SSD has a value of 3 in this attribute, which would suggest it isn't normal. However, it may explain why the SSD is read-only.

https://media.kingston.com/kingston/pdf/SMART-attribute.pdf

The Bad Block Count, Spare Block Count Left and Reported UNC(orrectable) attributes have all dropped to 94, which says that the drive has started to degrade.

The Average Erase Count is 0x9A (= 154 decimal) but the minimum and maximum counts are 7 and 0x79E (= 1950 decimal). This would suggest that wear levelling is extremely poor.

The PHY Error Count is about 4000, which suggests that the SATA link is not the best. These errors would be corrected by retransmission, though.


Edit:

https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/24/2015011412561232-768777.pdf

SMART attribute ID list

ID (Hex)      Attribute Name      Note
------------------------------------------------------
167 (0xA7)    SSD Protect Mode    0: R/W, 3: Read Only   <--   Your SSD is in read-only mode

This is super helpful. Thank you for the information, Sir. I will use this as a reference for checking any possible issues/errors in the future. It would seem that the SSD is evidently degrading overtime.