Secure erase xps 15 9550

Hi guys,

I got a replacement from dell for my xps 15 and I need to return the defective one. Do you guys have any recommendations to make sure that the nvme samsung pm951 can be securely erased?

I tried to the wipe option in bios but it didn't do anything. I already reset windows to its default setting. But I'm afraid that someone will still be able to recover deleted data. Further, I upgraded windows to pro so I have bitlocker. Should I use bitlocker to secure the drive?

Thanks all for your replies

 

http://www.overclock.net/t/1227597/how-to-secure-erase-your-solid-state-drive-ssd-with-parted-magic

Any good?

 

That (ATA secure erase) will not work with NVMe.

Only the newer Parted Magic (costs a few bucks) also inlcudes NVMe secure erase: https://partedmagic.com/nvme-secure-erase/

 

Just do a full format on the NVMe drive.

Flash memory doesn't hold a "ghost" image of previously stored data like magnetic hard disk drives. So once you write new data to a memory storage cell, you can't read the previously stored data value.


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That's fundamentally wrong.
SSDs use internally spare blocks and you can't control how the memory controller distributes you write access. Even if you do a full format there will be still completely intact data left.
If you want to make sure that your data can't be recovered either use the SSD from beginning with enabed hardware encryption or use the erase function of the memory controller (= secure erase).

 

I already tried the newest parted magic but it couldn't detect the nvme drive.
So I have re enabled bitlocker just to be safe. Is there anyway to secure erase this thing?

 

Bitlocker is good enough, it's now encrypted.

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Doesn't Dell offer downloads for this on the main 9550 support site?

EDIT: They do not. Their 'security tools' cannot do this for you. My bad.

 

Yeah, just encrypt it, then do what you want, delete files, format, whatever.



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I've tried Parted Magic 2016_07_12 and it did erase the drive. The trick is to put xps to sleep/standby after parted magic is loaded and then do the erasing. This is probably to unlock the drive.
Procedure was done on PM951 running in AHCI mode.

 

Do you know how hard it is to recover data from bare flash memory modules?

The concept of secure-erase used to matter because it was relatively easy to recover data from a mechanical HDD, if all you did was a simple format. Even consumer-level tools could recover that data.

Unless you're storing nuclear launch codes on your SSD, a regular full format will be fine.


Edit:. BTW, my source is Allyn Malvantano from PCPer, the storage guru for PCPer and the TWIT.tv network. I'm not just making this stuff up.

Edit 2: BTW2. I'm not saying it's IMPOSSIBLE to recover data from a regular-formatted SSD (which doesn't completely destroy the underlying data). I am saying that it's so hard to do (either time investment, or money), that it isn't worth it for people that are "just curious" as to what was on your drive.


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It is quite easy if you know what you are doing.
Any mid level data recovery company can do it.
Even our company forensic specialists have the necessary equipment and knowledge.
It's no rocket sience.

 

How many forensic specialists are smack heads robbing houses and cars?

 

just run windows 10 reinstall with the write over option.