Samsung Magician: PSID Revert vs. Secure Erase

[magellan]

In Samsung Magician do the operations Secure Erase and PSID Revert result in the same SSD state (i.e. all data on the SSD erased)? If so what is the difference between them?

 

[EarthDog]

No. PSID Revert unlocks the drive if it's encrypted (think bitlocker). Once unlocked, you can then secure erase ALL of the drive.

Here's a quick search result for details...

PSID Revert and Secure Wipe of a Drive (SSD/HDD) - Windows 11 Installation Guides

Use of Parted Magic to Securely Wipe or Sanitize a SATA/mSATA or NVMe Solid State Drive (SSD) and to unlock the Physical Security Identification (PSID)

dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com

 

[magellan]

Thanks I didn't know parted magic would do this. The description I read of Samsung Magician's PSID Revert stated that the SSD would be erased once the function was initiated.

Parted Magic is included as one of the utilities on the self-booting Ultimate BootCD.

 

[EarthDog]

It may be one step in Parted Magic... I don't know. But the PSID revert is an unlock function.

 

[don256us]

Well... I'm just guessing and may be way off. If you run the PSID, you can then format the entire drive. In doing so, the encryption is lost and therefore the data is not in a usable state but.... the data is there. So to most of us, running the PSID Revert is just as good as wiping the drive but hand that drive to the right person and the data could probably be unencrypted much easier.

Just a guess and again, I could be way off. I didn't feel like reading but felt like posting.