How do you delete your computer memory forever?

Question

Im going to sell my comp and i want to clear all the files and start from scratch.

How do you format? How hard will it be? Time consuming? i also want to keep all the programs on it like Microsoft word....internet explorer...etc. i want to keep my files too.

i want to keep my files on a separate disk...How do u do that?

Answer 1

format your hard disk

Answer 2

Buy or download a secure wiping program. Format does *NOT* remove the data fom the disk in an irreversible way. You can still get the data back off the disk.

I know that Mijenix pc toold had a secure wiper in. So did Norton.

Alternatively, install a clean install of the OS and write stuff all over the rest of the disk... like lots of copies of a picture of a sunset... and then delete them all and do it again with a different picture. then format the disk drive.

Or, and it's now quite common to see people have done this, take the disk out of the computer and sell it with no disk. Or buy a new disk for it. Use the old one in your new computer or smash it up with a hammer.

Answer 3

If you want to format a hard drive while using or installing Windows XP, you've come to the right place. This can be very useful for clearing everything off a secondary drive or when installing a fresh copy of Windows. Formatting a computer hard drive is simple and can help eliminate viruses and other hard to resolve problems.

Instructions
• STEP 1: When you format a computer hard drive you will lose everything that is on the drive. Therefore it is very important to back up anything you might want later. Additionally, if you are going to be formatting and installing Windows you need to make sure you have the discs for any applications or 3rd party hardware you use since you will need to re-install your programs and drivers after re-installing Windows.
• STEP 2: Take a moment to think of anything that you have on the computer that you wouldn't want to lose. Generally you probably want everything in your My Documents folder, you also want to save things like your favorites or bookmarks from you web browser. Remember that each user on the computer has her own My Documents folder, Desktop items and Favorites/Bookmarks.
• STEP 3: Now save everything to a CD, DVD or a hard drive that you will not be formatting.

Go to the source link for more information.

Answer 4

You may want to remove the hard drive before you sell it.
While you can 'format' the hard drive, there is always a possibility for someone to recover the data.
There are some programs that securely delete files, but these can be more expensive than buying a new hard drive.

Answer 5

Reformatting the HD will do the trick, but if you are REALLY concerned about privacy, keep in mind deleted data is never really deleted until the reformatted disk is rewritten, to capacity with new data. A good computer forensic tool can find any deleted file.

Answer 6

You can download your files onto a CD and save them that way.
My teacher told us to wipe a magnet on your hard drive and that will erase it. Don't know if that is true or it works, but he said you can open the computer, find the HD, and just run a magnet over it somehow.
Strange, but interesting.

Answer 7

I would suggest, you either remove the hard drive, or you place the system disc in, and do a new install of windows. There are disc you can purchase, but the best way is to reload the OS, and delete the particians. You can only do that if you have the disc.

Answer 8

Basically what TFR says about "formatting" your computer is correct. It's called destructive recovery, which will reset your computer to the state it was when you first bought it. Your computer may come with a program which will do this for you.

Answer 9

Right CLick your C: drive and click FORMAT. that does the job

Answer 10

PGP wipe 24x