How to Secure Erase SSD or HDDĭo make sure you have backed up all the needed files on the hard drive you are going to erase. No matter what the process is, the outcome is the same: your SSD or HDD will be securely wiped out.
Secure erase mac ssd free#
The only difference is that the free tool erases your data permanently by writing random numbers, not binary one or zero. The "Wipe Data" feature works almost identical to the Secure Erase commands. The free partition manager - EaseUS Partition Master, can also serve the function of an SSD erasing tool to securely erase an SSD or HDD for you. Therefore, you will need a hard drive erasing tool to help you to secure erase your solid-state drive.
Since the Secure Erase commands are only available from the hard drive firmware, you can not run the commands as you do in Command Prompt.
But only with the help of an SSD erasing tool or utility. But from a different perspective, Secure Erase is a perfect way to prepare your storage device for reuse or resale. That means once you perform a Secure Erase, there will be no chance to recover data from the device. It is a term for a data sanitation method that completely overwrites all of the data on a hard drive by writing a binary one or zero to the sectors on the storage device. Secure Erase is, in essence, a set of commands that are available from the firmware on PATA/SATA based hard drives. What is secure erase and how to do it? Read on and you will know all about it. Instead, it may simply be needlessly further shortening the life of your SSD compared to ordinary 'Secure Empty Trash.When you attempt you prepare your storage device for a new user, you may need to secure erase the SSD or HDD to protect your private data. NOTE: There is no reason to assume, to my knowledge, that 'Permanent Eraser' is going to permanently 'Secure Empty Trash' either, due to the same situation. The article linked above includes 'References' to two further articles at Apple about the situation. This problem was written up as a CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), CVE-2015-5901. Because of the nature of how SSDs write and erase data, there is no guarantee that a 'Secure Erase' actually removes the targeted data. The reason Apple removed 'Secure Empty Trash' in El Capitan is, in part, related to the nature of SSDs (Solid State Drives), which are becoming ubiquitous in computing devices. Localized for English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, and Welsh.Provides a warning dialog before files are erased (Press the Option key to bypass this warning).Erases files dropped on the application icon.Implements the Gutmann Method via SRM to remove files.Note: Permanent Eraser is intended to erase files from mechanical hard drives, but is not intended for use on modern SSDs. Once your data has been erased, it can no longer be read through traditional means. This utility overwrites your data multiple times, scrambles the original file name, and truncates the file size to nothing before Permanent Eraser finally unlinks it from the system. Permanent Eraser provides additional wiping methods such as the 3-pass DoE or 35-pass Gutmann algorithms. DoD pattern of overwriting data seven times. Beginning with OS X 10.3, Apple enhanced its security by introducing the Secure Empty Trash feature, which follows the U.S.
When you normally delete your files in macOS / OS X, the operating system is only forgetting where those particular files are placed, while the data still physically remains on the drive. Permanent Eraser allows you to securely delete files.