Difference between restore and reformat?

Question

What is the safest and most secure way to make sure someone who may have hidden access to my computer is totally wiped out.Is restoring or reformatting better. What is the difference? Thank you!

Answer 1

Restoring means that you are replacing files that have been deleted or removed.

Reformat means that you are completly cleaning the HDD of all information on it

Answer 2

I am assuming that you have administrative rights to your computer. If so you have the ability to change the password on every account on your computer. There is a hidden admin account with windows xp. That account is "hidden" and is only visible when you boot the computer in safe mode (you get there by hitting the f8 key repeatedly as soon as your start the computer until the boot menu appears). This hidden account is necessary to access your computer during safe mode and by default it doesn't have a password. This isn't a risk unless there are others who have access to your computer who can't be trusted. If you want to block this "hidden" account you need to password protect it. Boot into safe mode (see the f8 thing above) and then go into the control panel (Start>Settings>Control Panel) and click on User Accounts. Assign a password to the admin account and while you are at it assign a new password to every other account on the computer if you think it has been compromised. It's also a good idea to make all the accounts you don't control limited accounts so they can't undo what you have done. Be advised if you forget these passwords you are screwed so consider some strategy for remembering them.

REFORMAT OR RESTORE WILL NOT REMOVE THE HIDDEN ADMIN ACCOUNT. So if you think someone who has physical access to your computer is using this hidden account to access your computer you need to password protect the hidden admin account.

Answer 3

Reformat erases.

Restore erases, then reloads the computer with the original data from when the backup was created. If you didn't have any data on the pc when the backup was created, or if you have the original disks from the manufacturer, this is the better option, as it will not only erase, but it will overwrite the erased portions of the disk with new data.

The only way to ensure that everything is completely erased is to write something to every sector of a disk. You can search the web for such programs, usually called overwriters.

Answer 4

If you have files backed up onto another media, you restore those files. Other files may remain the same.

Reformat is to wipe a disk and start over. All files are erased.

Make sure that none of your directories are shared. Remove spyware and clear your cache. Change your password too.

See:

http://www.lbl.gov/cyber/systems/shares.html
and
http://security.yahoo.com/article.html?aid=2006102604

Answer 5

The most secure way is formating. Formating re-creates the structure of the hard drive while fast restoring simply deletes the file allocation table [but not the files themselves] and re-installs the operating system.