Wiping an SSD...

[allthatisman]

I just bought a 90gb Vertex 2 3.5" SSD to swap out my OS SSD, which is a Western Digital SilconEdge Blue 128gb SSD. I bought the Vertex 2 with the 20% off coupon and couldn't pass it up, and since I was running a bit low on space with all my games...

Anyway, I got the drive last night, installed Windows 7, drivers etc., then hooked up my WD SSD, and formated the drive in Windows. I then installed the Steam folder on my WD SSD and began downloading games to it. I only plan to use that SSD for game storage, but I am wondering, should I have wiped the SSD clean before installing anything on it? I have heard that a format doesn't exactly "cut it" for SSD's...

Any input?

BTW, the WD SSD was always TRIM enables, always fast, and never missed a beat. It also was never filled over 75%, FWIW...

 

[Arsynic]

I've heard that scrubbing a SDD's data isn't as reliable with conventional programs as it is with platter HDDs, but I don't think this has anything to do with formatting which is a OS function and not a HDD one.

 

[Compddd]

It's been over a year since I installed Win7 on my Intel G2 SSD, and things are starting to feel sluggish.

Should I format? Or do I need to do this secure erase thing too?

 

[hclarkjr]

i just format like i would with a hard drive. works every time

 

[razel]

Don't need to wipe or secure erase. As for the Intel G2, run the Toolbox. As for systems feeling sluggish. OSs can always feel sluggish after installing all your programs and using it normally. I wouldn't quickly blame the SSD. Though in my experience Win Vista/7 has been FAR better at holding up their speed better, but I blame this mostly on the abundance of RAM easily affordable and available and how they better use more of it especially after it trains itself on how you use your PC.

 

[Compddd]

I had to do an in place upgrade of Win7 over my existing Win7 install to fix some problems that were preventing SP1 from installing. After that my computer is sluggish as hell sometimes and I just figured it was time to wipe the slate clean and do a format and fresh install.

What do you think razel?

 

[zip1385]

Just back everything up and do a clean install. Nothing like a nice freshly installed setup booting.

 

[Compddd]

Yeah I already backed up all my stuff to my storage drive, I was just wondering if there was a special way to format or erase a SSD, from the looks of it I can just use the formatting utility on the Win 7 install disc?

 

[stargazr]

Yeah I already backed up all my stuff to my storage drive, I was just wondering if there was a special way to format or erase a SSD, from the looks of it I can just use the formatting utility on the Win 7 install disc?

The Windows formatting utility is fine.

 

[razel]

I had to do an in place upgrade of Win7 over my existing Win7 install to fix some problems that were preventing SP1 from installing. After that my computer is sluggish as hell sometimes and I just figured it was time to wipe the slate clean and do a format and fresh install.

Yes, like others. Do a clean install. Don't need to secure erase. Don't need to format prior. Just boot off the Win7 install disk and delete the partitions during the 'choose your disk' screen.

I also had issues with installing SP1. I spent a good hour digging into it using sfc /scanow to find the offending files. That hour arguably could have been better spent doing a clean install instead. but there's no denying how triumphant you feel you can resolve troubleshooting issues. Too bad when you tell others, you end up solidifying your geekdom.

 

[Old Hippie]

Yeah I already backed up all my stuff to my storage drive, I was just wondering if there was a special way to format or erase a SSD, from the looks of it I can just use the formatting utility on the Win 7 install disc?

A secure erase will release all of the user LBA locations internally in the drive and result in all of the NAND locations being reset to an erased state. This is equivalent to resetting the drive to the factory shipped condition, and will provide the optimum performance.

This will not happen with a Windows format and doesn't need to be done with a reinstall but I like to start with as "clean" of a "slate" as I can.

 

[holty]

A secure erase will release all of the user LBA locations internally in the drive and result in all of the NAND locations being reset to an erased state. This is equivalent to resetting the drive to the factory shipped condition, and will provide the optimum performance.

This will not happen with a Windows format and doesn't need to be done with a reinstall but I like to start with as "clean" of a "slate" as I can.

This is correct, and accurate, and the best way to reinstall fresh.

 

[Ertaz]

What tool do you recommend to do a secure erase?

 

[hennessy1]

I use hdderase. I tried it with a newer notebook but it didn't run properly I ended up having to connect it to my x58 board and running it in legacy mode. There is a newer 4.0 version I think and one version down. I've read that for an intel ssd to not use the 4.0 version.