Im selling my desktop and need to clean the hardrive but I dunno how to go about that.?

Question

I dont have a windows disk to re-install (if I delete everything) & the desktop is only 2 yrs old...so what would be my best option? I just use it for internet, music & photos so theres nothing really important on it.
Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

As said before depending on your computer some have a program for creating recovery disks. It's often found under Start/accessories/System Tools/restore. If the system gives you no way to create the restore disks you can often buy them for a reasonable fee from the manufacture. I think HP offers them for around $20.00us. It's a lot cheaper than having to buy a copy of Windows. Also, if you know someone with the same make/model computer you could make a copy of their restore disks.

After obtaining restore/recovery discs, place disc 1 in the CD/DVD drive and reboot the PC. When it restores the computer it will wipe out everything that was on it before you started the recovery process.

Answer 2

Depends on the manufacturer of the computer. Most computer manufacturers offer restore discs for sale from their sites and usually, if the system is under warranty, you can obtain them for the cost of shipping.

You are going to need some form of Operating System disc in order to install an OS onto the system before you go anywhere. It is however sometimes possible to install XP by burning off the folder: x:\Windows\i386 where x is the drive windows is installed on, usually C. This folder has the install files for XP however I've only managed to do a full install without complications from this file with a custom built machine running a retail version of XP. your best bet is to either obtain the restore discs from the manufacturer or purchase an XP disc and then use them to wipe the system.

Answer 3

Realistically you should bodily ruin the harddisk yet, an excellant loose programme which will sparkling ninety 9% of suggestion is DBAN whichh is accessible for living house windows, Opensource and Apple Mac. it is downloaded with the aid of capacity of an ISO image and could desire to you utilize it opt for the DOD selection. the full technique will take between 12-40 8 hours reckoning on the quantity of documents and the size of the harddisk.

Answer 4

Well...you can hope that your computer has the software to create a recovery disk, and if it does, then create them and use them to recover (Reformat) your computer back to how it was when you first bought it.

You can also check if it has a built in recovery partition, which is usually activated by tapping F11 when you first turn on your computer- before the operating system boots.

Answer 5

Never used a credit card? No banking? EVER?

Then, delete your folders and files that you deem private, and trust that you can't be a victim of ID theft. Oops. you have records that you registered your name address phone, on Yahoo, facebook, and for music! That is all in the computer in multiple places!

I would:
a. create restore CDroms
b. wipe the drive with a free drive "boot and wipe"

c. restore the plain system

OR, load it with http://www.mepis.org and keep the system, as it will never crash, is immune to all Microsoft virus/trojans/malware/exploits.

Answer 6

Just reformat it with the master CD. If it does not have a master CD installed it might have instructions on how to make the reformatting disks.

Answer 7

You need a bootable CD that can do formatting. You don't have to re-install the OS, or you can just delete your files one at a time if you want to leave the OS.

Answer 8

if there is no personnel information on it who cares what is on it when you sell it just delete all you can and go thru your clean up options that are built into windows

Answer 9

Delete all your personal files and folders then defragment the drive.

Answer 10

reinstall windows, and reformat while you do it, use google for a big guide