How do I erase ALL of my data/programs/OS on my laptop?

Question

I am giving back my work PC as I am leaving my job. I want to erase all data so nothing is retieveable. I've heard of some program that re-writes my disk 7 times or something--that the NSA uses?

Answer 1

If this is a work computer, you may not have the necessary administrator priviledges to do some of the reinstall or reformatting options suggested by others, and may not even have the capacity to install programs that would allow you to do a secure erase.

The Eraser program mentioned elsewhere will allow you to wipe files/directories with up to 35 passes of random data (7 passes is considered sufficient by the NSA, 3 passes under Department of Defense standards). You'll need to change the program's defaults, which are set for one pass (okay for a quck erase, but not for anything approaching a secure erase). You also should be sure to erase all temporary internet files and cookies, etc., which aren't covered by Eraser. Coffee Cup has a free version of its cleaner program available through Tucows (www.tucows.com -- do a search), where you also should be able to find Eraser or other similar utilities.

Be careful, however -- you should not use any of the above methods to wipe out files that are owned by your employer.

Answer 2

The secure erase you are talking about will need to be ran from a bootable CD and it will do exactly that, erase and write garbage to the disk so nobody can recover it. This may or may not be what you want to do as it would erase Windows as well.

The suggestion to use the Windows CD and do a clean load will usually be more than enough however you can get the program mentioned, eraser, and then manually delete all added programs, all my docs, my pictures, etc, clean your history and cookies, empty the recycle bin and so on then run eraser.

If you have been "good" this should be enough. If you have been "bad" and you really want to protect yourself then your going to need a bootable CD and erasing tools.

Answer 3

There is a free ware program called Eraser. Do a Google or whatever search engine you prefer and download it. If you have the time it can do a wipe 35 times.

Answer 4

There are several programs that will erase all data on your HD buy you really don't need to spend the money you can do a low level format by typing FDISK from a DOS prompt.

Answer 5

You can format (completely erase entire drive)your hard drive by:
1.Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, or insert the first Windows XP Setup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then restart the computer.

Note To start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM (or from the startup disk), your computer must be configured to start from the CD-ROM drive, the DVD-ROM drive, or the floppy disk drive. In some cases, you may have to modify your computer's BIOS settings to set this configuration. For information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive, the DVD-ROM drive, or the floppy disk drive, see the documentation that is included with your computer, or contact the computer manufacturer.
2.If you are starting the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do this.
3.At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.
4.
Note If you are using the Setup disks (6 bootable disks), the setup will prompt you to instert the Windows XP CD.
5.Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
6.If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC.
7.All the existing partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition or the unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition. Press D to delete an existing partition, or press C to create a new partition by using unpartitioned space. If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this step for each of the existing partitions that you want to use for the new partition. When all the partitions are deleted, select the remaining unpartitioned space, and then press C to create the new partition.

Note If you want to create a partition where one or more partitions already exist, you must first delete the existing partition or partitions, and then create the new partition.
8.Type the size in megabytes (MB) that you want to use for the new partition, and then press ENTER, or just press ENTER to create the partition with the maximum size.
9.Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to create additional partitions if you want them.
10.If you want to install Windows XP, use the ARROW keys to select the partition where you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER. If you do not want to format the partition and install Windows XP, press F3 two times to quit the Windows Setup program, and then do not follow the remaining steps. In this case, you must use a different utility to format the partition.
11.Select the format option that you want to use for the partition, and then press ENTER. You have the following options:
•Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
•Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
•Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
•Format the partition by using the FAT file system
•Leave the current file system intact (no changes)
The option to leave the current file system intact is not available if the selected partition is a new partition. The FAT file system option is not available if the selected partition is more than 32 gigabytes (GB). If the partition is larger than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT32 file system (you must press ENTER to confirm). If the partition is smaller than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT16 file system.

Note If you deleted and created a new System partition, but you are installing Windows XP on a different partition, you will be prompted to select a file system for both the System and startup partitions.
12.After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that appear on the screen to continue. After the Windows Setup program is completed, you can use the Disk Management tools in Windows XP to create or format more partitions.

Answer 6

you have 2 strategies to do a million - keep your HDD and installation it on your new laptop or workstation. purchase a sparkling one and installation as a replace. 2- Create a dummy document of photos that have heavy MBs and recreate via replica and paste and fill out the whole HD then delete. try this two times and delete. if absolutely everyone tries to snoop in year HD he will discover that dummy document in basic terms

Answer 7

Go to start, then control panel, and add or remove programs. Any programs you personaly installed can be manually removed that way. But as for saved documents you'll have to delete them the same way to make sure it's done right.

Answer 8

You can reformat the hard drive. Put in the original disk and return it to the way it was when you received it.

Quick Restore.

Good Luck

Here's one I found with "search"
http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/

Answer 9

Dban http://dban.sourceforge.net/ will help you remove all that incremenating porn uhhhh data from your machine!!!! Just boot to the floppy or cd and follow the instructions.