Secure Erase SSD from BIOS on T520?

[FragrantHead]

There is a an unlock (bootable CD) utility that makes an SSD secure erase option available in the BIOS of older Thinkpads, such as the T410s. I have been unable to find such a utility for later Thinkpads, such as the T520. Does this exist for the later models, specifically the T520?

[jayton4]

There is a an unlock (bootable CD) utility that makes an SSD secure erase option available in the BIOS of older Thinkpads, such as the T410s. I have been unable to find such a utility for later Thinkpads, such as the T520. Does this exist for the later models, specifically the T520?

I believe that the name for what you are looking for is "BIOS Setup Menu Extension Utility for the Resetting the Cryptographic Key and the Erasing of the Solid State Drive"

Why not just use Parted Magic instead? It is so easy and does the job very well.

Here is the one for the T410s:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... MIGR-68369

I don't think they did a BIOS extension on the T520, just a bootable DOS CD:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_EG/downloa ... D=DS019026

[twistero]

I remember reading about reports that sometimes the secure erase feature in BIOS fails to complete the erasure, and leave the SSD locked with a random (i.e. unknown) password, rendering the drive unusable. Therefore I also suggest using another tool such as Parted Magic to do the erasure.