# HELP! trying to secure erase my OCZ SSD but ocz toolbox will not detect drive.



## Enmity (Sep 28, 2012)

hey guys, i've got a ocz vertex 2 ssd and I need to secure erase it before transferring it to my new build to start fresh.

since this vertex2 is a system drive I cannot perform this from within windows on my old rig.

I have no other hard drives with windows installed on it other than my fathers laptop which I am using right now. 

So, what ive done is I called my mate who is a tech, who was busy at the time but i managed to borrow his usb to sata adapter, plus he has another adapter that plugs into your wall socket and has the sata power connector. this was i can connect my ssd into my dads laptop via usb.

This is working fine, the screenshot shows here that its being detected correctly in device manager. However OCZ toolbox doesn't detect any compatible drives, im guessing this is due to the fact that its being picked up as a usb device yes? 

is there anything I can do to make this work?

otherwise Ill have to wait until my mate is available (probably wont be until tomorrow) to use his pc and literally plug it in at his place to perform the secure erase.

id really like to get this new system up and running coz ive been waiting for months haha.
new specs are :
3570k
asus P8Z77-V
8gb ddr3
keeping the 5850's for now.

Any help would be much appreciated guys 

cheers.


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## manofthem (Sep 28, 2012)

Just read this from OCZ's site regarding the use of Toolbox:

*3)  The SATA controller must be set to AHCI mode in the bios to utilize the Toolbox.  *

Maybe that's the issue with the laptop.


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## Enmity (Sep 28, 2012)

Thanks man, ill look into that, im also reading up on parted magic, which may work too


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## manofthem (Sep 28, 2012)

Enmity said:


> Thanks man, ill look into that, im also reading up on parted magic, which may work too



I had trouble secure erasing my ssds and I ended up using Parted Magic on USB.  It finally worked.  I had more trouble though, as I had to set my bios to hot swappable and then plug in the ssd after Parted Magic was loaded, because if I didn't, it wouldn't let me erase them.  

I hope it works out well


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## elemelek (Sep 28, 2012)

You can use Linux based TOOLS to perform erase. Check out this thread OCZ Bootable Toolbox. You can burn the CD or make bootable pendrive.


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## Enmity (Sep 28, 2012)

Thanks man im giving parted magic a try right now, wish me luck!


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## Enmity (Sep 28, 2012)

Thanks elemelek, if i have no luck with parted magic ill gice that a whirl


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## manofthem (Sep 28, 2012)

Enmity said:


> Thanks man im giving parted magic a try right now, wish me luck!



You've got this bro!


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## Enmity (Sep 28, 2012)

son of a bitch! lol, ok so heres the error i got with parted magic, tried booting in both default mode, and the graphical mode. same error both times. Maybe i got the wrong version though. 

http://partedmagic.com/doku.php?id=downloads

i just grabbed the top one ( 2012_09_12.iso )

my cpu is Phenom II X4 940BE.

should I have gotten the x86_64.iso?

heres the error.


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## manofthem (Sep 28, 2012)

Try typing 'menu' there
I know I had to type menu at the first command prompt that looked similar to that, but I don't recall getting the error. I'd be happy to help more but I'm already in bed, still playing on my phone lol. Sorry to be of little use.


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## Enmity (Sep 28, 2012)

all good man, i appreciate your help thus far  i'll keep messing with it, or i might just try the other linux suggestion


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## Enmity (Sep 28, 2012)

Just to let u guys know, the bootable ocz toolbox worked a charm! Excellent option and i recommend it to all. Ive installed windows now and going through driver installations and whatnot. Will make a thread later with my initial thoughts and eventually some benchies comparing the p2 system against the new intel system running the same gfx cards


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