best free program to erase SSD

[nice_shoes]

I have an SSD that I want to install into my wife's Dell Inspiron laptop. After I do the physical install, I want to completely erase the disk before I load Windows 7 onto the laptop. I've done a little investigation and found Kill Disk and DBAN to use for completely erasing the SSD. Anyone used these?

 

Are there other free programs that anyone can recommend?

[SpikeSoprano]

The ssd manufacturer should have a format tool to do this, a third party software could damage the ssd, only thing is you usually have to format it from a separate hd with an os on it.

[MercuryDoun]

Is there any particular reason you are looking to securely erase the data? If not, Just pop it into a windows computer, launch diskpart and blow away all the partitions on the disk. Then run the clean all command which is erase MBR/GPT data and zero out the drive. Clean all can take a bit of time(on an SSD it shouldn't take more than half an hour per 500GB) but it'll wipe it out everything and zero out the disk.

 

Here is a link from Microsofts Support website that details the basic use and commands required to use DiskPart: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415

 

The only reason you should need to use like DBAN is when you need to "DOD(Department of Defense) quality" of data butchering... The only difference between zeroing out a drive and hardcore blowing it away with DBAN is that any data on the drive will be utterly unrecoverable, were has just zeroing means with special tools and a clean room and whatelse ridiculousness, most of the data can be recovered. This would before for all but the most serious data recovery and thefts. DBAN is going to take forever and a half to run through 30 passes and in the end they are both going to be zero'd out drives.

[ir_cow]

if its a ssd you really cant wipe the data without destroying it. if you just want to wipe it to zeros and hope no one uses data recovery software than really any tool box program will work.

[dr_bowtie]

Wevsspot knows a nifty program that totally wipes a SSD back to new state... works very well and very fast and totally erases the drive....I've used it many times but cant remember the name of it off hand... its a bootable tool..

[IVIYTH0S]

Wevsspot knows a nifty program that totally wipes a SSD back to new state... works very well and very fast and totally erases the drive....I've used it many times but cant remember the name of it off hand... its a bootable tool..

G-Parted?? I have alot of options with Hirens (DOS, Win XP, or even Linux programs)

 

Couldn't one more simply "secure erase" a drive by just zeroing it and then copy a large file/folder (that's not personal, like a large game folder) and then internally copy that over and over until the drive is full...making the prior data unrecoverable. Then delete the clone army of whatever (or quick format)

[MercuryDoun]

 

Wevsspot knows a nifty program that totally wipes a SSD back to new state... works very well and very fast and totally erases the drive....I've used it many times but cant remember the name of it off hand... its a bootable tool..

G-Parted?? I have alot of options with Hirens (DOS, Win XP, or even Linux programs)

 

Couldn't one more simply "secure erase" a drive by just zeroing it and then copy a large file/folder (that's not personal, like a large game folder) and then internally copy that over and over until the drive is full...making the prior data unrecoverable. Then delete the clone army of whatever (or quick format)

 

 

It's not that simple. Even after having new data written to the drive, it's still possible to recover old data, in fact it can be over written multiple times and still be partially recoverable. That's why when you do secure erase stuff it zeros it out, fills it with garbage, over and over and over again. A ridiculous number of times. If he really wants to secure erase it, using a program is way easier than manually doing it.

 

I was under the impression that he just wanted to zero it out and restore the drive to "like new". So again even DiskPart in windows can do this. If he needs to secure erase it, I highly recommend DBAN, its one of the industry standards, Used it in the pass, simple and slow, but it works great.

[VaporX]

I use Parted Magic to get a clean start on an SSD.

[ccokeman]

I use killdisk. 

[Waco]

Just format it in the Windows installer.

[IVIYTH0S]

 

 

Wevsspot knows a nifty program that totally wipes a SSD back to new state... works very well and very fast and totally erases the drive....I've used it many times but cant remember the name of it off hand... its a bootable tool..

G-Parted?? I have alot of options with Hirens (DOS, Win XP, or even Linux programs)

 

Couldn't one more simply "secure erase" a drive by just zeroing it and then copy a large file/folder (that's not personal, like a large game folder) and then internally copy that over and over until the drive is full...making the prior data unrecoverable. Then delete the clone army of whatever (or quick format)

 

 

It's not that simple. Even after having new data written to the drive, it's still possible to recover old data, in fact it can be over written multiple times and still be partially recoverable. That's why when you do secure erase stuff it zeros it out, fills it with garbage, over and over and over again. A ridiculous number of times. If he really wants to secure erase it, using a program is way easier than manually doing it.

 

I was under the impression that he just wanted to zero it out and restore the drive to "like new". So again even DiskPart in windows can do this. If he needs to secure erase it, I highly recommend DBAN, its one of the industry standards, Used it in the pass, simple and slow, but it works great.

 

But it's harder each time right?? (like all the recovery programs say never to put anything new on the harddrive you're trying to to recover) I assumed once that part of the harddrive was overwritten then that was that

[SpikeSoprano]

The op is giving the drive to his wife, just format it with the windows 7 disk and be done with it, unless she's looking for info on his girlfriend and then it's up to her lawyer to pay big bucks to find info on it.