Bootable WinPE edition
Wipe the disk Windows is standing on
Boot the machine from ProofWipe media to sanitize the system disk itself — and sealed devices like Surface — with the same engine, verification, and certificates as the desktop app.
Why boot media
Three problems only booting can solve
The system disk problem
A running copy of Windows occupies its own disk, so a desktop wiping tool can never sanitize the drive it boots from — ProofWipe’s fail-closed protection forbids it outright. Booting from ProofWipe media removes the host OS from the equation: the internal drive becomes just another target.
The sealed-device problem
Surface and other sealed or soldered-storage devices don’t let you pull the drive and wipe it on a bench. The boot edition sanitizes the storage in place, without opening the chassis or voiding anything.
The USB-bridge problem
Firmware Purge commands (ATA SANITIZE, NVMe Sanitize) are frequently blocked by USB bridge chips in docks and enclosures. Booted from ProofWipe media, the machine’s native SATA/NVMe controllers talk to the drive directly — unlocking firmware Purge on internal drives.
How it works
From desktop app to bootable stick
The desktop app builds the boot media for you — operators never touch a command line.
- 01
Create the stick
Use the “Create bootable USB” button in the desktop app. It walks you through everything — including fetching the Windows ADK components if they aren’t installed — with a progress UI. No command line.
- 02
Boot the target machine
Plug in the stick and boot from USB. ProofWipe starts in a self-contained WinPE environment — nothing is read from or written to the internal drive by the OS.
- 03
Wipe with the same engine
The boot edition runs the identical sanitization engine as the desktop app: same methods, same two-step arming, same read-back verification.
- 04
Take the certificate with you
Certificates are written to the USB stick itself, so the proof leaves the machine with you — the internal drive holds nothing.
No compromises
The same engine — not a lite version
The boot edition is a different shell around the identical sanitization engine. Everything that makes the desktop app trustworthy comes along:
- Clear (overwrite) and Purge (firmware sanitize) methods
- Two-step arming and confirmation before anything destructive
- Read-back verification: 1%, 10%, or 100% sampling
- A certificate is generated for every outcome — including cancelled or partial wipes.
- Fail-closed protection of the boot media itself — the stick you booted from is never a target
ProofWipe boot environment ready.
Target: NVMe SSD 512 GB — internal system disk
Method:Purge — NVMe Sanitize(native controller, no USB bridge)
Arming: serial confirmed · armed
sanitizing… 62%ETA 04:12
Certificate will be written to boot media.
Good to know
- Building boot media uses Microsoft’s Windows ADK + WinPE add-on; the in-app builder detects them and guides installation if missing.
- The target machine must allow booting from USB (firmware/boot-menu setting; on some managed devices this is administratively controlled).
- Certificates and logs are stored on the ProofWipe stick — bring it back to the bench to archive or print them.
One stick. Any machine in the rack.
Build boot media from the desktop app and take verified sanitization to the hardware — instead of bringing the hardware apart.