How do I securely wipe the HD of a Surface Pro 3?

Question

I am needing to securely wipe the HD of my Surface Pro 3 and do a new install of Windows 10. From my understanding I can use a USB boot drive to re-install my Windows OS, but I cannot find any specific information on how to securely wipe the HD. I recently sold an old MacBook Pro and wiping that was as easy as going into disc utility, selecting the desired drive, and selecting the level of security I desired (7 passes). Now I am not dealing with a HDD, nor am I dealing with a Mac, so I am slightly confused. So, I want to know what needs to be done to completely wipe a Surface Pro 3 securely and re-install Windows OS. Thanks!

Answer 1

On Wed, 6 Jan 2016 17:19:57 +0000, bgathletics6 wrote:

>>Looks like there is an option to fully clean the drive during the reset process. If this is a successful method to securely erasing the SSD then I am more than willing to go with it.

Yup

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barb

Windows Experience MVP

My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

Please mark as answered if this answers your question

Answer 2

does anything at http://www.lovemysurface.net/do-before-sell-my-surface/ help?

see the bottom of the page about creating a local user, securely wiping the

drive, etc.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barb

Windows Experience MVP

My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

Please mark as answered if this answers your question

Answer 3

I saw that article previously. My only concern is that is pertains to older versions of the product that aren't running Win10. If this doesn't matter then definitely correct me. I found some helpful information in the following forum thread. The video embedded in the thread shows an older Surface running Win8 I believe.

http://www.surfaceforums.net/threads/secure-erase-ssd.10306/page-3

Looks like there is an option to fully clean the drive during the reset process. If this is a successful method to securely erasing the SSD then I am more than willing to go with it.