How to COMPLETELY wipe out a computer?

Question

My parents just bought a new computer and will be donating their old one, how do I COMPLETELY wipe everything off the computer, pretty much just start from fresh and leaving the windows program on it. It's not worth the money to bring to a computer shop to get them to do it. Please help.

Well then how do I do a reformat?

Can you PLEASE explain how to do the things you have listed?? How do I do a destructive recovery?

It is actually Windows 98.

Answer 1

It is assumed that you have a Windows98 distribution CD from which to re-install the operating system. You want to clean the hard disk to insure someone cannot recover any prior information on the computer. Do the following:

Get a copy of Dariks' Boot and Nuke (preferred), Autoclave 0.3 or Eraser and erase the drive. This will take a while, but will insure the disk cannot be recovered.

Next Install the operating system from the installation CD

There is no way to sanitize the hard drive while retaining the original operating system, so don't try to take a shortcut. It's not worth it to risk having information stored in some obscure place you didn't look.

Good luck, and happy hunting !

Answer 2

That's way different than XP! If you have recovery discs it is easier to use them to restore the computer to a factory state. If not you will probably have to do the below. Nomatter which way you use, back up all info you want on the new computer.

DO NOT DO THE FOLLOWING UNLESS YOU HAVE BOTH A WINDOWS 98 STARTUP DISC AND INSTALLATION DISC (they are 2 different things). This process can be complicated.

1st make sure you have a Windows 98 Installation CD (make sure you also have a 25 digit license code, sometimes printed on the top or back of the computer). You will also need to create a Windows 98 Startup Disc (usually a floppy disc).To create a startup disc go to Start>Settings>Control Panel. Click on Add/Remove Programs. Click the emergency disc tab and insert a blank floppy disc. Click create disc.

Turn off the computer. Insert the startup (emergency) disc. You should recieve blank screen w/ text similar to this:

A:

Type FORMAT C: You will likely get a warning that all info on the drive will be erased. Type Y to confirm. This may take some time. After it is done, the blank screen w/ text should reappear. Insert the installation disc and type SETUP (may have to type SETUP.exe). You should then get a welcome screen. Click to continue w/ installation. The application will then perform various checks to make sure the computer is ready for Windows 98. You will eventually walk through the steps as w/ any other installation. Leave the install directory as the default. In your case it is probably best to do a typical installation. Go through the steps and reboot (make sure you remove the floppy disc).
After the reboot, Windows should do many other things to ready itself for use. The computer will probably need rebooted several times, but should eventually be done w/ the install.

This informataion is acurate to the best of my knowledge, as I have gone through this process once before.

You should also get as much info as you can (sometimes the microsoft website can be helpful, sometimes not)

Answer 3

Have you got Packard Bell's "Smart Restore" program on your computer? Have a look at Start > All Programs > Packard Bell Support > Smart Restore. If so, running this software should give you two options - one of them is a complete restore back to the way the computer was first delivered to you. The other is a partial restore, that leaves any additional software, etc. intact. If you do use it, just be careful that you completely understand what will and won't be destroyed by the restore.my advice is to get someone to help you

Answer 4

You can go to Maxtor.com and download Powermax4.23 to a floppy disc.
Insert the floppy disc into your computer and re-boot it.
Follow the instructions and it will erase your hard drive . You can then re-install XP or any Linux system (Ubuntu is very good and it's FREE. Easy to use and many free features).
WARNING: This will erase everything on your hard drive!!!
So back up everything you want to save before you erase it.
This will also give you a chance to get rid of any unwanted items and start off fresh with XP.
Good Luck,
Ed

Answer 5

If it is windows xp, there is a way to do it. I've done it a few times to my computer. I have a dell. It depends on the computer you have and if it will allow you to without the disk. I push alt+F8 I think and a restore option comes up and you just follow the steps its really easy and puts the computer at the original state from when you got it. You'll have to look in your owners manual to see the specific buttons to press to restore it. Hope this works for you.

Answer 6

If you have an install disk for Windows, you can boot up your computer from it directly and reformat starting from scratch. Some computers have a rescue partition on the hard drive you can boot to, if you don't have a disk provided.

Answer 7

Format the PC .
It'll wipe out all the contents of the PC .
Then use a Windows CD to install the Windows in the PC .
Done !

Good Luck !

Answer 8

What you can do is reformat the drive, which basically wipes everything off, and just reinstall windows, if you dont have the windows install, then you would need to delete things manually and start by going to start->control panel->add or remove programs.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Go the the IOLO website and download a program called drive scrubber. You download the software onto a floppy and when you activate the program it will turn your drive into zeros and ones.