Thanks for this informative answer. Then it would make sense that it took only 1 second, then again, I have a modern Asus motherboard (AM5) with a Western Digital NVMe drive, and that drive isn’t listed as Secure Erase compatible on Asus motherboard. I will download the WD dashboard and do it that way, I didn’t know it existed before I posted this question.
SSD erasure is a standard(ish) command. It’s best not to assume it works if there’s no tested compatibility, but I also wouldn’t expect it not to work, unless you notice that the data on the drive still exists (i.e. you boot the machine and there’s already a partition on there).
There are actually two types of erase commands for NVMe drives (“cryptographic erase” for the encryption method I mentioned, and “block erase” for actually wiping all cells). There’s a command for “user data erase” that lets the SSD decide which of the two options to use, which I assume most tools will do.
I didn’t know WD had a tool, that’s probably your best bet! While you’re at it, also check for firmware updates, it may just help the next owner enjoy the drive for a while longer if you’ve got a buggy SSD that you didn’t know about.
Thanks for this informative answer. Then it would make sense that it took only 1 second, then again, I have a modern Asus motherboard (AM5) with a Western Digital NVMe drive, and that drive isn’t listed as Secure Erase compatible on Asus motherboard. I will download the WD dashboard and do it that way, I didn’t know it existed before I posted this question.
SSD erasure is a standard(ish) command. It’s best not to assume it works if there’s no tested compatibility, but I also wouldn’t expect it not to work, unless you notice that the data on the drive still exists (i.e. you boot the machine and there’s already a partition on there).
There are actually two types of erase commands for NVMe drives (“cryptographic erase” for the encryption method I mentioned, and “block erase” for actually wiping all cells). There’s a command for “user data erase” that lets the SSD decide which of the two options to use, which I assume most tools will do.
I didn’t know WD had a tool, that’s probably your best bet! While you’re at it, also check for firmware updates, it may just help the next owner enjoy the drive for a while longer if you’ve got a buggy SSD that you didn’t know about.