220-1102 Question 300
Single answerStorageA technician is preparing a Windows 11 laptop for reassignment to another employee. Company policy requires that the previous user's confidential files cannot be recovered, but the laptop must remain in service and keep its current NVMe SSD. The technician also wants to avoid unnecessary wear on the drive. Which action should the technician take FIRST?
- A
Run a full format on the SSD from Windows Setup
- B
Use the SSD manufacturer's secure erase or sanitize utility
- C
Delete the user profiles and then empty the Recycle Bin
- D
Use a multi-pass file-shredding tool to overwrite the entire SSD several times
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The best first action is to use the SSD manufacturer's secure erase or sanitize utility. In real-world support, this is the appropriate method when an SSD must be reused but data must not be recoverable. Traditional HDD-style wiping methods are not ideal for SSDs because of wear leveling, bad block management, and overprovisioning, which can prevent software overwrite tools from touching every physical NAND location. Deleting files or formatting the volume is insufficient for secure sanitization. Best practice aligns with vendor guidance and industry recommendations such as NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1, which distinguishes between clearing and sanitizing media and notes that flash-based storage often requires manufacturer-specific erase/sanitize procedures.
- A. Incorrect.
A full format recreates the file system and checks the volume, but it is not the best first choice for reliably sanitizing data on an SSD before reassignment. On modern SSDs, due to wear leveling and overprovisioned blocks, a standard format does not guarantee that all previous data cells are cleared in a way that meets sanitization goals.
- B. Correct.
This is correct. For an SSD that will remain in service, the recommended approach is to use the drive vendor's secure erase or sanitize function, typically available through manufacturer tools or firmware-supported utilities. These methods are designed for flash storage and account for SSD behavior such as wear leveling, making them more appropriate than traditional overwrite methods.
- C. Incorrect.
Deleting profiles and emptying the Recycle Bin only removes file references from the file system. The data may remain recoverable until blocks are reused, so this does not meet a requirement to prevent recovery of confidential information.
- D. Incorrect.
This is a common misconception based on HDD practices. Multi-pass overwriting was historically used for magnetic disks, but it is not the preferred method for SSDs. Because SSDs remap writes internally, repeated overwrites may miss some physical cells and also create unnecessary write wear.