Chelsa Turner, Also in what way is it safe? Does it mean it will not erase any data so all data is safe from being erased? Or it only erases safe data and no risky classified data... I guess it is just a meaningless ambiguous marketing statement.

USER,

Windows 10 x64 Pro is the OS that's installed.

USER,

Very Important:

After Restart the first time and after each Uninstall and Restart of the software, do a Registry & File System Check.
Google: How to do a FSC Win ???, or How to do a File System Check Step by Step Win ???
Make sure you have it all to support you, when you can't use the computer, just to be sure.
Use another computer if you like, like a mobile phone or whatever and/or write/print it out.

Forgot about it! :(

HRC, I bet you can if you make it erase the wrong file by mistake... oops!

daddy cool, why oh why would you use Gutmann 35 passes method? I recomend you do some research on what the hypothetical purpose of the Gutmann 35 passes erasure method was... You can be assured that a single overwrite of plain zeros is more than sufficient to prevent all nation-state labs from recovering previously recorded data on any magnetic hard drive.
If you are paranoid you can try overwrite with zeros then a pass of pseudo-random sequence then clone a copies of all the windows system32 folders worth of DLL's over the free space and then delete them. But 35 passes using Gutmann patterns on a single hard drive of known recording method is pointless and takes so long and wastes so much power...
Even old MFM and FM and RLL drives. Gutmans original paper was not even a theoretical paper but a hypothetical paper that has NEVER been peer review demonstrated as possible with any production hard drive technology. It has a chance of being possible with single density flopy drives of yester-century but not on any modern hard drive tech at all.

Michael Earwood, Operating system? You realize there's a DEP fix for Windows 7 & 10 don't you? I'm not saying that's the issue but I've fixed many a program because of it.

Michael Earwood,

Oeps, the Comment #9 was meant as a response to this Comment!

Just look up & Enjoy! :)

Rob, it also could be company trolls trying to boost the credibility of GotD's daily offering...which happens a lot.

Rob, or it could be those that have had a bad experience are put off by the reason for user vote thumb down and don't bother or choose a reason that does not count in the public tally of user votes! Not all User Voters comment and not all commentors User Vote. and apparently magnitudes more participants neither User Vote or comment ever, if the participation stats are to be believed, like when there is a fixed number of license codes distributed by email by GAOTD themselves.

Fred,

That's one Option.
However, they could create a Temporairly Master/Active HDD/SSD to complete the Complete HDD/SSD Wipe.
It's possible to have the system restart and do it all. The only thing why the HDD/SSD is present, is to be Wiped. It can be set to give it a Drive Letter, when formatted or not too, HDD/SSD Drive Check & Fix, and so much more.

If they would, they could create it that way, that it will do it all and ask if you like to start an OS (Where to find (when needed), or by a Live distribution by USB/DVD (portable mediums) or whatever), or to Install an OS & Where and Much More if they like.

So..

Enjoy the GOTD! :)

AR,

There are a couple of 3rd party tools that claim to, but your best hope IMHO is to use whatever utility is provided by the SSD manufacturer & hope that it really works -- tests have shown not always depending on brand/model.

AR, Technically yes it is possible to securely wipe an SSD if it supports the built in ATA Secure Erase command. In order to securely overwrite all SSD memory sells all you need to do technically is overwrite the entire logical drives public sector count plus an additional overwrite of whatever that drives over-provisioning is forcing the firmware to use all the over provisioning spare memory cells... then TRIM the entire public logical sectors. It will reduce the number of available erase cycles significanlty but not enough to break anything as should increments each memory block erase count by at most 2 where even the most fragile QLC tech can support over 500 erase cycles per memory erasable memory block. Assuming the firmware does not suffer from rampant write multiplication like some badly designed DRAM-less SSD controllers do.

TK, Right. over-provisioning is only for the capacity, not the write spreading algorithm. Otherwise, simply filling the drive with random files would have been enough.
As for ATA SE command, not all drives implement it as they should:
https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/62253/what-is-the-difference-between-ata-secure-erase-and-security-erase-how-can-i-en

AR, Over provisioning is to allow wear leveling even when the advertised capacity has been written to in it's entirety. Which is why you must write the full capacity plus the over provisoning capacity then TRIM the lot to be sure. While the reminant data that may remain in the over provisioned memory blocks it is not readable by the stock firmware and is not readable once the block is electrically erased, but if the memory block is just queued for electrical erasure it is possible to take the FLASH EEPROM chips from the SSD board and attach them to a dedicated controllers board with diagnostic/forensic firmware which could read any remaining data in normally unreadable over provisioning memory cells queued for but not yet erased.