Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command

How to "Clean" or "Clean All" a Disk with the Diskpart Command​

   Information

This will show you how to use the clean or clean all command on a selected disk to delete all of it's MBR or GPT partitions, volumes, and any hidden sector information on MBR disks is overwritten.

The data on the HDD is not written over using the clean command like it does with the clean all command below. With the clean command, the data on the HDD is only marked as being deleted instead and is only written over when new data is written/saved to the same location on the HDD next.

OR

You could use the clean all command (secure erase) to do the above and also have each and every disk sector on the HDD written over and zeroed out completely to securely delete all data on the disk to help prevent the data from being able to be recovered. "Clean All" takes about an hour per 320 GB to finish running.

   Note

• You cannot use the clean or clean all diskpart commands on a boot disk (ex: disk Windows is installed on) unless you do it from a command prompt at boot.

• Be sure to backup anything that you do not want to lose on the disk that you use clean or clean all on first. It will be to late afterwards. All data will be permanently lost on the disk.

   Warning

You do not want to use clean all on a SSD disk often. Having every sector written over to 0 on a SSD can reduce it's life span faster.

Here's How:

1. In Windows 7, open an elevated command prompt, or a command prompt at boot.

OR

2. In Windows 8 and 8.1, open an elevated command prompt, or a command prompt at boot.

   Note

Be sure that you have the correct Disk #. You would not want to wipe clean the wrong disk.

A) Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type compmgmt.msc, and press Enter.

B) If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.

C) Click/tap on Disk Management in the left pane, and make note of the disk # in the middle pane of the disk that you want to clean or clean all. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, I would use Disk 1 if I wanted to use clean or clean all on my USB key drive.

3. In the elevated command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

4. In the elevated command prompt, type list disk and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This will give you a list of disk numbers to select from.

5. In the elevated command prompt, type select disk # and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You would substitute # for the disk number listed that you want to use clean or clean all on. For example, I want to use one of them on Disk 1 (from step 1) for my USB key drive, so I would type select disk 1 and press Enter.

6. If the status of the selected disk # (ex: Disk 3) shows as Offline, type online disk, and press Enter to make it online. (see screenshot below)

7. Do either step 8 or 9 below for which command you would like to use.


8. To Use the Clean Diskpart Command
NOTE: (Recommended) See the green INFO box at the top of the tutorial for more information about this command. This command will wipe the HDD quickly.
A) In the elevated command prompt, type clean, press Enter, and go to step 10 below. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This will not take long to finish. Think of it as being like a quick format.

9. To Use the Clean All Diskpart Command
NOTE: See the green INFO box at the top of the tutorial for more information about this command. This command will wipe the HDD, and perform a secure erase. "Clean All" takes about an hour per 320 GB to finish running. It's best to only use this command if you wanted to help make sure that the data on the HDD cannot be recovered say when giving or selling the HDD to another person.
A) In the elevated command prompt, type clean all, and press Enter, and go to step 10 below. You will see the command prompt below as is until the "clean all" command is finished. (see screenshot below)

NOTE: This will take quite some time (several hours or more) to finish depending on how large the disk is since it is writing over each and every sector on it to zero. Think of it as being like a full or low level format.

10. When finished, in the elevated command prompt, type exit and press Enter. Close the elevated command prompt.

11. The disk will be left as unallocated space. (see screenshot below)

12. You will now need to create a new partition or volume on the disk to be able to use it again.



That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Shrink a Partition or Volume in Windows 7
• How to Create a New Partition or Volume in Windows 7
• How to Extend a Partition or Volume in Windows 7
• How to Delete a Partition or Volume in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Convert a FAT or FAT32 Volume to NTFS in Windows 7
• How to Convert a MBR Disk to a GPT Disk
• How to Convert a GPT Disk to a MBR Disk
• How to Convert a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk
• How to Convert a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk
• How to Quick Format a HDD or USB Drive
• How to Securely Wipe a Hard Disk with "Darik's Boot and Nuke"
• How to Overwrite Deleted Data using the "Cipher" Command in Windows

 

[Brink]

The green information box at the top of the tutorial can give you more details on this to help better understand.

 

[oysarl]

Hello, and thank you for a very useful and comprehensible tutorial!

I have recently installed a new SSD and now have it up and running with Windows 7. I am now planning to reinstall the old HDD in a secondary slot on my laptop to keep for storage.

You cannot use the clean or clean all diskpart commands on a boot disk (ex: disk Windows 7 is installed on) unless you do it from a command prompt at boot.

This is probably an ignorant question, but am I required to perform the "clean" or "clean all" on the HDD (which has Windows 7 installed) from a command prompt at boot, when I'm booting from the SSD?

I am not sure if I completely understood the difference between "clean" and "clean all". The drive is only about 6 months old, but I just want to wipe it and make a partition for bulk files that won't fit on the SSD. Will a "clean" be sufficient or would "clean all" be a better alternative? The required time isn't really an issue.

Warm regards.

 

[Brink]

Hello Oysarl,

You will be able to run either of them from within the SSD Windows 7 on the HDD. No need to do it at boot.

A "Clean" command deletes (marks as deleted) all partitions and files on a HDD and leaves the HDD as "unallocated space" when finished. It doesn't take long to finish.

A "Clean All" command does the same thing as "Clean", but will secure erase all partitions and files on the HDD to make sure that they are permanently deleted instead of just marking them as deleted as the "Clean" does. A "Clean All" can take a long time to finish running.

For what you described, I would recommend running the "Clean" command. "Clean All" is usually for when you are selling or giving the HDD to another person, and/or you wanted to make sure that nothing can be recovered from the HDD.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[oysarl]

Thank you, Brink. That is exactly what I needed to know.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Oysarl.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hiyya Shawn hav been doing this for sometime now and up to now have not had anything but minor problems but just the last two drives I am trying "make new" have come back as "Bad disk" with that black line.

Mate am I doing something wrong or is the machine telling me it is a dud disk please?

Mt next step was to follow Wolfgangs tut on SSD's before using it even if it is an HDD should I be doing that on HDD's or is that really not necessary?

John

 

[Brink]

Hey John,

That doesn't sound good for the HDDs. You might try running Seagate SeaTools on them to test to see if they may be bad (dead/dying) or not.

For in Windows 7: How to use SeaTools for Windows

For in DOS at Boot: Seatools for DOS tutorial

Good luck. I hope they are not bad.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hey John,

That doesn't sound good for the HDDs. You might try running Seagate SeaTools on them to test to see if they may be bad (dead/dying) or not.

For in Windows 7: How to use SeaTools for Windows

For in DOS at Boot: Seatools for DOS tutorial

Good luck. I hope they are not bad.

Thanks Shawn for quick reply I'll run that over them as I have dudded two now and on my third which I want to install Ubuntu as the XP disks (old) just will not work, and it's only for the kids of a friend to stop them wrecking (again) her laptop.

John

 

[antonianus]

Each time I try to open an Elevated Command Prompt from Accessories/Command and run as administrator, typing Diskpart no disc info.appears. I am running W7 Version.6.1.7601. Any ideas?
Thanks
Ton

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello.


Have a look at the tutorial linked below to make sure you are getting into the command window the right way, then ...
DISKPART : At PC Startup


diskpart <enter>

list disk

select disk # = your disk number

 

[Brink]

Each time I try to open an Elevated Command Prompt from Accessories/Command and run as administrator, typing Diskpart no disc info.appears. I am running W7 Version.6.1.7601. Any ideas?
Thanks
Ton

Hello Ton,

As Ted posted above, it sounds like you may not have typed list disk and pressed Enter at step 4 after typing Diskpart and pressed Enter.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[antonianus]

Each time I try to open an Elevated Command Prompt from Accessories/Command and run as administrator, typing Diskpart no disc info.appears. I am running W7 Version.6.1.7601. Any ideas?
Thanks
Ton

Hello Ton,

As Ted posted above, it sounds like you may not have typed list disk and pressed Enter at step 4 after typing Diskpart and pressed Enter.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

You are right Shawn, I somehow did not read the article properly and missed
"typing "list disk". Quite simple simple really and I am much obliged for prompting
me.
Many thanks
Tony

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Tony. I'm glad that Ted and I could help.

 

[ROBO731]

Hi, I need to do this for my main HDD because it has a rootkit on it, but it won't allow me because it says that you can't perform a clean all on a disk containing the current boot, system, pagefile, crashdump or hibernation volume. That makes sense, but how can I wipe this HDD clean so I can do a clean win7 install?

 

[LittleJay]

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

If you have a Windows 7 boot disk, or installation disk, you can boot up into one or the other disks and run Diskpart from there.

 

[ROBO731]

Thanks.

 

[ROBO731]

Looks like I'll be using this once again. Can I clean all on my HDD while using my SSD?

 

[Brink]

Hello Robo,

Yes, you sure can. It will not affect the SSD.

 

[ROBO731]

Thanks, I shortly after remembered that I would have to do it by booting into diskpart since there is a windows 7 install on it. Oh well, thanks anyway and merry Christmas!

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. Merry Christmas.