How do you delete all information on a computer?

Question

I want it to be like new, and I can't reinstall windows since it came with xp and no CD. I have heard of something where you go to run and type C or something like that.

Answer 1

If you would like to erase and wipe all information from your harddrive, I reccommend you use Active@ KillDisk. This powerful and compact DOS software allows you to destroy all data on hard and floppy drives completely, excluding any possibility of future recovery of deleted files and folders. This is security software for unrecoverable data elimination for any computer capable of booting in DOS mode from floppy drive. It uses access to the drive's data on a physical level via BIOS bypassing logical drive structure organization, thus it does not matter operating systems and file systems located on the machine, it can be DOS, Windows 95 / 98, Windows NT / 2000 / XP, Linux, Unix for PC. Active@ KillDisk conforms to US Department of Defense clearing and sanitizing standard DoD 5220.22-M. You can be sure that once you clean up with Active@ KillDisk, sensitive information is purged out forever. We highly recommend you to run this FREE utility for the hard and floppy drives you want to dispose of, recycle, re-use, sell or donate to somebody.

Please note: If the CIA or FBI is after you, destroy the hard drive. It is possible to recover data even if it has been erased and written over many times.

Answer 2

It's not going to be like new since you can't restore. You would have to delete all the programs you installed with Add/Remove programs. Then you'd need to create a new userid and delete your current one to get rid of all your files. And you would probably still have some stuff hanging around, and your system would be at the current state, not like back when you got it.

If it didn't come with cds, and you bought it new, does it have a recovery partition? If so, you can use that to bring your system back to the original state. And also, if this is the case, you probably have the ability to create a recovery set of cds... which you really should do. Check your doc that came with your system, or post more info.

Answer 3

If this is a Dell do this

Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec
NOTICE: Using Dell PC Restore permanently deletes all data on the hard drive and removes any applications or
drivers installed after you received your computer. If possible, back up the data before using PC Restore. Use PC
Restore only if System Restore did not resolve your operating system problem.
NOTE: Dell PC Restore by Symantec is not available in all countries or on all computers.
Use Dell PC Restore by Symantec only as the last method to restore your operating system.
PC Restore restores your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased the computer.
Any programs or files added since you received your computer—including data files—are permanently
deleted from the hard drive. Data files include documents, spreadsheets, e-mail messages, digital photos,
music files, and so on. If possible, back up all data before using PC Restore.
To use PC Restore:
1 Turn on the computer.
During the boot process, a blue bar with www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.
2 Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press .
IF YOU DO NOT PRESS IN TIME, LET THE COMPUTER FINISH STARTING, AND THEN RESTART THE
COMPUTER AGAIN.
NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot in the following step.
3 On the next screen that appears, click Restore.
4 On the next screen, click Confirm.
The restore process takes approximately 6–10 minutes to complete.
56 Troubleshooting Tools
5 When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.
NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let the computer completely reboot.
6 When prompted, click Yes.
The computer restarts. Because the computer is restored to its original operating state, the screens that
appear, such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that appeared the first time the
computer was turned on.
7 Click Next.
The System Restore screen appears and the computer restarts.
8 After the computer restarts, click OK.

Go to Microsoft Updates as you now will be WAY out of date.

Answer 4

ok first of all DO NOT RUN KILL DISK, you will lose everything and being you have nothing to reload the operating system you will screw yourself.
XP has a restore option.
Restore it to when the computer was first loaded and it should return to nearly factory condition. You can perform this task without the original or any XP cd.

guess you have to love the people who actually have to look this junk up i guess and paste a lot of nonsense mess without reading it themselves geez.

Answer 5

you can delete everything by deleting partitions or reformating the disk, but without a CD to reinstall you are not going to be able to get it back with Windows on it

Answer 6

check with your pc maker. They will likely provide you a recovery disc for a small fee.

A reformat is what you need to do to return it like new. You need the Windows disc to do this. The recovery disc will do this. You also need drivers as well.

You can delete all data files manually and you can uninstall programs if you want.

Answer 7

smash the hard drive, get a new one, borrow someones CD and use the XP code on the side of your machine