i. Reboot the system. If the system has a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and/or fingerprint reader, 
one or two prompts will appear—one to clear the TPM and the other to Reset Fingerprint Sensor; 
press or tap F1 to accept or F2 to reject.
j. Remove all power and system batteries for at least 24 hours.
2. Complete one of the following:
●
Remove and retain the storage drive.
– or –
●
Clear the drive contents by using a third party utility designed to erase data from an SSD.
– or –
●
Clear the contents of the drive by using the following BIOS Setup Secure Erase command option 
steps:
IMPORTANT: If you clear data using Secure Erase, it cannot be recovered.
a. Turn on or restart the computer, and then press esc while the “Press the ESC key for Startup 
Menu” message is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
b. Select the Security menu and scroll down to the Utilities menu.
c. Select Hard Drive Tools.
d. Under Utilities, select Secure Erase, select the hard drive storing the data you want to clear, and 
then follow the on-screen instructions to continue.
– or –
●
Clear the contents of the drive by using the following Disk Sanitizer command steps:
IMPORTANT: If you clear data using Disk Sanitizer, it cannot be recovered.
NOTE: The amount of time it takes for Disk Sanitizer to run can take several hours. Plug the 
computer into an AC outlet before starting.
a. Turn on or restart the computer, and then press esc while the “Press the ESC key for Startup 
Menu” message is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
b. Select the Security menu and scroll down to the Utilities menu.
c. Select Hard Drive Tools.
d. Under Utilities, select Disk Sanitizer, select the hard drive holding the data you want to clear, and 
then follow the on-screen instructions to continue.
Nonvolatile memory usage
Non Volatile 
Memory Type
Amount (Size) Does this 
memory 
store 
customer 
data?
Does this 
memory 
retain data 
when power 
is removed?
What is the 
purpose of this 
memory?
How is data input into this 
memory?
How is this memory write 
protected?
HP Sure Start 
flash (select 
models only)
2 MBytes No Yes Provides 
protected 
backup of 
critical System 
BIOS code, EC 
Data cannot be written to this 
device via the host processor. 
The content is managed 
solely by the HP Sure Start 
Embedded Controller.
This memory is protected 
by the HP Sure Start 
Embedded Controller.
Nonvolatile memory usage 141