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I think I didn't encrypt my drive when I installed Ubuntu and I would like to use the opportunity to change that when I install Ubuntu 20.04. I'd like to make sure that all data is permanently wiped before I do a fresh installation, but that's turning out to be a bit of a problem. All I found online on the topic was the advice to go on the manufacturer's website to see how to proceed.

I have a Samsung 970 EVO SSD, and the tool that Samsung offers (Samung Magician) appears to be available exclusively for Windows. Any ideas how to get this done?

sababa
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    Look up how to run dd to zero out a drive. Any Search Engine will happily give you easy instructions. Warning: It will wipe your drive of all data without any hope of recovery no matter how remorseful you are in the future. Do not make a typo, or you'll be sorry. – user535733 Jun 07 '20 at 01:11
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    I second the other users suggestion of using dd – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jun 07 '20 at 01:52
  • shred, wipe, dd ... https://askubuntu.com/questions/17640/how-can-i-securely-erase-a-hard-drive – cmak.fr Jun 07 '20 at 05:03
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    @cmak.fr the shred command shouldn't be used on SSDs though. It looks my best bet is hdparm – sababa Jun 07 '20 at 15:14
  • @cmak.fr this only reduces the lifecycle and potentially damages your hardware – Bash Stack Jun 09 '20 at 13:51
  • Why bother deleting old data? Wont the encryption process overwrite it anyway? And why this obsession with encryption? Are you afraid that someone steals your disks? – Soren A Jun 09 '20 at 13:54
  • @all : you're right: secure erasing requires writing all the disk space, which reduces disk life although ssd's are improving on this point – cmak.fr Jun 09 '20 at 16:55

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Use the secure erase feature since there might be spare sectors etc. so just overwriting 3 times is maybe not enough

Archwiki also has a good feature on that

Bash Stack
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