Users Guide

Data Assistant provides a level 2 erasure on the drive while retaining the partition used to restore the operating system. For
more information about terms and conditions of the Data Assistant service, see www.dell.com/servicecontracts.
● Higher level erase—Some users might need to meet requirements or standards, such as former Department of Defense
method 5220.22-M or NIST SP-800-88, Revision 1. Specialized software is available to meet these requirements.
For more information, see How Do I Erase Data from My Hard Drive?.
Solid-state drive considerations
If you need a higher-level erase standards for your solid-state drive (SSD), you might must use manufacturer-specific,
proprietary tools. It is recommended to contact the manufacturer of your SSD for more information.
Data Assistant
Data Assistant is designed to maintain a balance between utility, ease-of-use, and effectiveness by:
● Being a simple-to-use solution, data erasing, and automatically restoring the system to the first-boot experience.
● Erasing personal data to a reasonable standard such as level 2.
● Retaining the usefulness of the PC by leaving the Windows operating system, reset capability, and drivers intact.
● Running as a stand-alone software solution that does not require additional hardware or tools.
Higher-level erase solutions might:
● Require additional hardware.
● Delete all operating system and recovery partitions, leaving a blank hard drive without an operating system.
● Not meet specific erasure standards.
● Not guarantee that the drive is free from residual data.
● Require manual steps and different media to restore the original functionality of the PC.
Data Assistant works by leveraging special recovery software that is built into modern Dell Windows PCs that includes both
the ability to overwrite or erase user-addressable portions of the hard drive while also being able to reset the system to a new
operating state. Data Assistant:
1. Determines sectors of the hard drive that contain Dell OS Recovery tools.
2. Overwrites all other sectors of the hard drive. These sectors are considered user addressable, and are located where
personal data and the operating system is stored.
NOTE: This erase is more thorough than a level 1 erase, and might take several hours to complete.
3. Verifies that all sectors have been successfully overwritten.
4. Initiates Dell OS Recovery, which begins rebuilding the operating system and Dell tools, restoring the system to a first-boot
experience.
NOTE: There is no guarantee that erased data cannot be retrieved.
Reset SupportAssist OS Recovery
Related video: How to erase and reset your old PC using Dell reset
About this task
After data migration is complete, and you click Erase This PC on your old PC, the Data Assistant runs the pre-checks for erase.
For more information, see Prechecks for erase. Data Assistant uses the installed version of SupportAssist OS Recovery on your
old PC. For more information, see Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery.
Steps
1. If your PC supports SupportAssist OS Recovery, the following message is displayed after you click Erase This PC: We're
ready to reset this Dell PC. Click Reboot to Begin Dell Reset to restart your PC and begin the reset process. If
the PC does not restart automatically, see Manual Reboot.
Data Erase
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