Blancco has software and hardware solutions for a lots of different data erasure needs. However there are some special IT assets for which we might not have a direct erasure solution available. Blancco gets a lot of questions related to erasing IT assets, such as printers, switches, routers, cash registers, etc. Some of these devices cannot be erased with Blancco at all, some can be erased by using a workaround solution, and some can be erased directly.

1. Printers:
   • Larger ("company grade") printers usually contain a hard drive (a magnetic drive or an SSD). The problem with printers is that there is usually no way to boot the printer with CD, USB or from network. Printers usually do not have any kind of "common" operating system and accessing it on an administrative level is usually impossible. With printers the best Blancco approach is to remove the hard drive and connect it to a PC which has proper connectors for it (usually SATA), and then boot the PC with Blancco Drive Eraser using CD, USB or network boot.
   • Some printers might contain removable flash based memory card. In cases like this the flash storage device should be removed and connected to a Windows PC where it can be erased with Blancco Removable Media Eraser. Note that Windows needs to be able to detect the flash storage device before it can be erased with Blancco.
   • Important to note! There is a high risk that the storage device contains also some sort of operating system for the printer. If the device is going to be reused, erasing the storage device might be risky.
2. Network gear:
   • Blancco Network Device Eraser is capable of processing and erasing certain set of Cisco switches and router.
     • More details available on Blancco Website.
   • Typical consumer level routers, switches, WLAN stations and hubs do not usually contain a removable storage device. Erasing an embedded or internal memory of these devices is unsupported in most of the cases.
   • Some high-end devices might contain a removable hard drive or flash storage device (NAS storage capability is getting more common all the time, especially with routeres/WLAN stations). In a case like this, the same instructions as with printers, can be followed (the erasure risks are also the same).
3. Other IT assets (and any other systems with optical drive or USB boot possibility):
   
   • Some special IT assets, for example certain cash register systems, might be built on x86 based PC hardware. Some of these devices might be even equipped with an optical drive, USB ports and network card. In cases like this there is a chance that Drive Eraser can be directly booted from CD, USB or network. It is important to check that the IT asset's hardware meets the system requirements of Blancco Erasure Software.