Fixing up my old laptop to be like new?

Question

I'm leaving for college, and I'm giving my mom my laptop. Is there any easy way to just delet EVERYTHING off of it?
Or even any ways to make it more like new?

It's a Dell laptop with windows xp home edition on it.

Answer 1

If this is a Dell this will make it "as shipped" no disks needed

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.
This can be tricky to catch at the right time
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.
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Go to Microsoft Updates as you now will be WAY out of date.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 2

I just recently bought myself a new hard drive and added some ram into my lappy. If you are willing you can buy a new hard drive and install it in yourself or have some geek squad do it for you.

Best way to restore the computer without spending anything would be to just find the boot up cd that came with the box you bought your computer with. Normally what you would do is insert the disk and hold a certain key upon system bootup and there should be a dos screen instructing you that you are deleting all the previous data. The computer would then go through an install screen and after say 25minutes your computer should have about reset itself.

Goodluck. Find that system restore disk!!!

Answer 3

You can install Linux on it, and use all the hard drive space (heres a great distro that is easy to use http://www.ubuntu.com/), that would erase everything easily. Linux would only take around 15 minutes to install (versus Windows best record of 3-4 hours) you could then get flash, and nearly every codec (to play movies and videos) from a program here (http://getautomatix.com/), among other stuff. Also you wouldn't have to worry about virus scanning software to protect the computer (and bog it down) from spyware, trojans, adware, and other malware.

Answer 4

yeah i know how to..use the recovery cd you got with your laptop and choose to "format your laptop"
you will need to enter the serial key(check the bottom of your laptop) and then it the process takes 4 hours but everything will be deleted,the laptop will be as good as new and very fast and great...after you format it there should be another cd (or maybe it is on the same cd) an option to install all the drivers and softwares necessary for operation

Answer 5

Just doing an image restore will do both those things, eliminate all sensitive data AND make the system run faster by removing all the bloat, the fragmentation and most importantly all the spyware/malware/greyware that we all build up. Follow your mfgrs recomendations to do an image restore or let us know what brand and we'll walk you through it. Slow spped on most computers isnt caused by bad hardware, its all the crud software we have on it

Answer 6

Yep, sure is! Just re-format the hard drive using your Windows (XP, I'm assuming) disc, and re-install Windows on the drive. Just be sure to re-format it using the NTFS file system (not the quick one), and your mom will have a nice, like-new computer to work with.

:)

Answer 7

Create a new user profile in the Control Panel under User Accts. and then delete your old profile. Easiest thing to do.

Answer 8

to get the best performance out of it reformat it as this cleans out everything

Answer 9

right click delete

go to your trash can (from the computer)
and then right click and delete
then...
wala its done
more like new

Answer 10

you can reinstall the operating system or reformat it.