Users Guide

Dell Data Assistant provides Level 2 erasure on the drive, while retaining the partition used to restore the operating system.
Please see the terms and conditions of the Dell Data Assistant service at www.dell.com/servicecontracts for full details.
● Higher-Level Erase—Some users may 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 may be available to meet these requirements.
For additional detail, see How Do I Erase Data from My Hard Drive?.
Solid State Drive considerations
If you need to meet Higher-Level Erase standards for your Solid State Drive (SSD), you may need to use manufacturer-specific,
proprietary tools. For more information, Dell recommends contacting the manufacturer of your SSD.
Dell Data Assistant
Dell Data Assistant is designed to strike a balance between utility, ease-of-use, and effectiveness. It does so by:
● Being a simple-to-use solution, erasing data and automatically restoring the system to the first-boot experience.
● Erasing personal data to a reasonable standard (Level 2).
● Retaining the PC's usefulness by leaving the operating system (Windows), reset capability, and drivers intact.
● Running as a standalone software solution that does not require additional hardware or tools.
By contrast, Higher-Level erase solutions may:
● Require additional hardware.
● Delete all operating system and recovery partitions, leaving a blank hard drive without an operating system.
● Meet certain erasure standards.
● Still not guarantee the drive is free from residual data.
● Require manual steps and extra media to restore the PC's original functionality.
Dell Data Assistant works by leveraging special recovery software built into modern Dell Windows PCs that includes both the
ability to overwrite (erase) user-addressable portions of the hard drive while also being able to reset the computer to a fresh
operating state. It performs the following steps:
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 where personal data
and the operating system is stored.
NOTE: Since this is more thorough than a Level 1 erasure, this process may take several hours to complete.
3. Verifies 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 absolute guarantee that erased data cannot be retrieved.
Reset SupportAssist OS Recovery
About this task
Upon completion of data migration when you click on Erase This PC on your old PC, the Dell Data Assistant will run the
Prechecks for erase on page 66. Dell Data Assistant will use the installed version of Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery on your old
PC.
Steps
1. If your PC supports Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery you should see the screen below when you click Erase This PC. Click
on Reboot to Begin Dell Reset, to restart your PC and begin the reset process. In case the PC does not restart
automatically, see Manual Reboot on page 102.
Data Erase
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