Question How can I securely wipe an external NVMe 2tb drive

[liberty610]

Hi all.

I recently discovered that my Gigabyte 2tb M.2 NVMe drive is going bad. I have an RMA set up for it and plan on sending it in, as it is still under warranty.

However, this was my main Windows 11 boot drive. And even though the drive is faulty, it still functions. It was casuing random BSOD issues when trying to write large data chunks to it. I have since replace the faulty drive with a new one and reinstalled Windows and everything isin working order again.

The drive is no longer inserted in my motherboard, but I have an external enclosure from Sabrent for it (model EC-SNVE). It connects to my PC via USB-C cable.

I was wondering what is the best method to securely erase this drive before I send it in to the RMA department? It's a Gigabyte Aorus NVMe Gen 4 2TB SSD. Model GP-ASM2NE6200TTTD.

I know my way around windows disk setups and what not, so I know how to delete partitions and format it, but with it being my main OS drive for several years, I would like to wipe it real good before sending it in. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

I was wondering what is the best method to securely erase this drive before I send it in to the RMA department? It's a Gigabyte Aorus NVMe Gen 4 2TB SSD. Model GP-ASM2NE6200TTTD.

commandline function diskpart, and the clean command.
Maybe cleanall if you're a bit worried.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/format-hard-drive-command-prompt,37632.html
https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/...-a-drive-through-the-command-prompt-005929en/
https://searchwindowsserver.techtar...t-to-create-extend-or-delete-a-disk-partition

 

[Eximo]

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

 

[liberty610]

I knew of this method, but wasn't sure if it was a secure wipe or just a basic formatting of the drive. Thank you!

USAFRet. I read a lot of your comments on other issues I search for within these forums. After the nightmare of reinstalling windows 4 times this past weekend only for the fualty drive to cause issues, what is the best way to create a mirrored backup of my Windows drive in case I have a failed drive issue down the road? I keep getting mixed methods when doing searches on it.

I practice great back up methods for all my other data. I have hardshell cases full of mechanical drives with archives on them. But backing up my main windows drive it something I need to start doing now after this debacle.​

 

[USAFRet]

I knew of this method, but wasn't sure if it was a secure wipe or just a basic formatting of the drive. Thank you!

USAFRet. I read a lot of your comments on other issues I search for within these forums. After the nightmare of reinstalling windows 4 times this past weekend only for the fualty drive to cause issues, what is the best way to create a mirrored backup of my Windows drive in case I have a failed drive issue down the road? I keep getting mixed methods when doing searches on it.​

​

I practice great back up methods for all my other data. I have hardshell cases full of mechanical drives with archives on them. But backing up my main windows drive it something I need to start doing now after this debacle.​

A Full Format in File Explorer does get rid of the data, but doesn't do the boot partition. You want ALL of it gone.

Backups?
I do full drive Images with Macrium Reflect.
The basic concept is here:

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

My procedure is modified since then, but that is the basics. You can use any external drive...doesn't have to be a full blown NAS box.

 

[liberty610]

A Full Format in File Explorer does get rid of the data, but doesn't do the boot partition. You want ALL of it gone.

Backups?
I do full drive Images with Macrium Reflect.
The basic concept is here:

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

My procedure is modified since then, but that is the basics. You can use any external drive...doesn't have to be a full blown NAS box.

Awesome. Thanks! I'll def be looking into this.

And yea, I went with the clean all option on the diskpart ordeal. From a google searchm it will take a couple hours? The one page said it is about an hour long for every 320gb of space. This thing is 2tb in size.

 

[USAFRet]

Awesome. Thanks! I'll def be looking into this.

And yea, I went with the clean all option on the diskpart ordeal. From a google searchm it will take a couple hours? The one page said it is about an hour long for every 320gb of space. This thing is 2tb in size.

Yes, it will take a while.
But it WILL be empty.

 

[liberty610]

Yes, it will take a while.
But it WILL be empty.

Good deal. Using it as a main OS drive for 4+ years, who knows what could be pulled from it.

It's making the enclosure pretty toasty though. I better get a fan on it.

 

[js2]

Quicker way is to use a secure erase program. But you can go onto disk management and do a full format.