Failing SSDs and Erasing HDDs with DBAN

Failing SSDs

Solid State Drives (SSDs) can fail, usually due to either physical damage or bad data blocks. While not as easy to detect as with hard drives, there can still be warning signs. Some of these include failures when trying to save or access files, slowed processes, decreasing general performance, frequent crashes and files opening in read-only mode. There are tools available, either as part of the OS or as available downloads that can help diagnose if there is damage and the SSD is failing.

There are a few techniques that can help if the issue is related to data rather than physical damage. Formatting and redownloading the OS can help if there is corruption in the OS itself. Power cycling and idling in the boot menu can also be helpful if the problem was caused by a power failure. Finally, it is possible that the firmware or drivers for the SSD are simply out of date and updating them can solve the issue. Before any attempts are made at repairing an SSD, it is important to try to perform a backup of all recoverable data.

There are some strategies that can help prevent SSD failure and mitigate effects in the event it occurs anyway. Programs that monitor SSD health can give an early warning if something begins to go wrong, allowing detection and repair sooner than waiting for symptoms to become obvious. Some SSDs also come with built in monitoring technology that can provide warnings and suggest steps to be taken. Finally, having a good backup system can prevent serious effects in a worst-case failure.

Source: N-Able

Erasing HDDs with DBAN

There may be times where circumstances make it so the best option is to completely erase an entire hard drive and start over. For example, converting a Windows computer to Linux would make all the existing files worthless anyway. Completely erasing the Windows OS and all associated files would give the most disk space to start fresh with the Linux OS. Complete erasure can also be useful if the owner wants to sell the PC. For this operation, a free program named Darik's Boot and Nuke, but commonly just called DBAN, is a great solution. It works as an ISO file so that it can be booted into prior to the OS loading, which would not be conducive to the full erase. As such, the ISO needs to be saved to a USB or other expansion drive.

Booting into the DBAN program gives several options. The user can choose to wipe individual drives, or all drives. They can also choose which method to use. Methods range from simple to very complex ones that are probably overkill and will take much longer to accomplish. In the end, all the methods accomplish the same end goal. The recommended method is called the dodshort, which makes three passes through the disks to erase all data.

Source: Lifewire