File Eraser

Myths about Disk Wiping and Solid State Drives

Written By Oliver Powell
Approved By Rohit Arora
Updated on 14 Oct, 2021
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Data sanitization is an integral part of secure data management, which is typically required when you need to dispose of your hard drive to throw away an old system. This is done by overwriting the drive multiple times to remove all the evidences of data remanence in your system, i.e. making data completely unrecoverable. This helps to secure you against cases of data thefts.

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A range of disk wipe software is on the market, which use different overwriting algorithms to perform multiple-pass wipes. They erase your hard drive by overwriting it with all 0’s, 1’s, or random data. In fact, a majority of users believe that the level of security provided by these tools depends on the number of passes performed during the wiping task. The reality is that you only need to wipe once (or perform only one pass) to securely erase everything present on the drive. The one recommended such tool is Stellar File Eraser which permanently shreds all your confidential data from hard drive files and folders.

When a file gets deleted in Windows, Linux, or any other operating system, the operating system does not erase the contents of the file. Instead, the space occupied by that file on the hard drive is marked as ‘unused’. This space can be reused by writing data on the unused sectors. A file recovery software can easily recover data from the unused sectors until they get overwritten by new data. This is exactly what a disk wiping utility does (i.e. overwriting the data) to make information on your drive beyond the scope of recovery by any commercial tool.

Comparing Solid State Drives (SSDs) with Hard Disk Drives (HDDs)

The SSDs use a different mechanism to store data than mechanical hard drives, and thus function differently. When you delete a file on your SSD, a TRIM command is issued to the drive by the operating system. This results in permanent erasure of the file contents from the SSD. Hence, a simple delete operation will clean data off your SSD. You do not require wiping the SSD using disk wipe utilities. Furthermore, SSDs use a technology that makes it easy to write data to a used sector rather than to overwrite an unused sector. So, a normal deletion would increase the performance of your SSD. On the other hand, modern SSDs also have a fixed number of write cycles. A wiping operation would lead to several reads/writes on your SSD, making it prone to damage and reducing its lifespan.

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About The Author

Oliver Powell

Oliver Powell is a Data Recovery Expert at Stellar®. He is a passionate technology blogger & content creator, He explores new applications and has deep understanding of data recovery. He has experience in Windows & Mac data recovery domain.

30 comments

Zenith Cooper says:

May 24, 2017 at 8:58 am

I am curious to know how to permanently delete data from SSD’s ? If possible please suggest any relaible software.

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  May 24, 2017 at 9:39 am
  
  I recommend to use secure and certified Bitraser tool for complete SSD data removal
  
  Reply
James Davis says:

April 11, 2017 at 6:49 am

As far as my knowledge is concerned, there is no method or software present which can retrieve data after overwriting ( data erasing ). But still many times it was seen people and companies are claiming to recover after using disk wiping. Once the data is overwritten with a random pattern of 0’s & 1’s, the information is gone for forever.

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Scarlet Hopkins says:

March 15, 2017 at 10:01 am

One of the biggest myths is data can be retrieved back after wiping, heard from various people. Just to be curious read various blogs and forums and came to know that data once being overwritten can’t be recovered back in any case.

Reply
Charles Robert says:

February 27, 2017 at 7:05 am

After reading this post, I get to know about the advantage of disk erasing software and how this software can really save us from any online identity theft. Secure data management is must for all.

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Noah Leo says:

January 27, 2017 at 9:34 am

It was a surprise for me that SSD drive data can be permanently erased by a data erasing software. Many of my colleagues denied it earlier by saying it can wipe only HDD data. When I personally used it, all of my data are deleted without any complexity.

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Robert Ford says:

January 23, 2017 at 9:46 am

There is a common myth that data once wiped from data erasing software can be recovered back. But It was a false statement, recently I need to delete a very important files permanently, which I deleted with the help of a reliable tool like BitRaser. After that to crosscheck, I use one of the best data recovery software to check whether a data is recoverable or not. No data is recovered.

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Allen Collins says:

January 13, 2017 at 3:56 am

As per my views, solid state drives are the next big storage device. With a number of advantages over traditional hard drives like larger life, better performance, fewer chances of wear and tear, better speed, less consumption of the battery, etc. All these factors make it a better choice for users.

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Lisa Lopez says:

December 23, 2016 at 9:23 am

Disk Wiping is a powerful tool to permanently erase our data which is out of the scope of Data Recovery. I recently deleted my sensitive data with the help of BitRaser software and I was completely satisfied with its outcomes.

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Lewis White says:

December 12, 2016 at 10:32 am

Disk wiping is no doubt the best method to permanently delete your data. I always try different disk wiping tool to check its performance and compatibility with different Operating System. I am happy with the results of Bitraser, this software really impressed me. Thumps up!!!

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Martin Butler says:

November 30, 2016 at 3:48 am

Disk wiping is a need for today’s generation technology, where we so much depend on our laptop or desktop for various purposes. On the recommendation of one of my close friend, I tried Bitraser data wiping tool and prevent myself from identity theft.

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Myths about Disk Wiping and Solid State Drives

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