I have a HP Pavilion dv6000 with Vista that I would like to sell. How do I wipe my hard drive clean of all personal information, files, and programs? I don't think I have any of the discs the computer came with, but I don't know it that's necessary to clean the hard drive. I have also installed Microsoft Office 2007... is there any way to keep this program and all other programs essential to the functioning of the computer while erasing all of my personal information? Is there anywhere I could/should take my computer to get my hard drive wiped or can I do it myself?
2007-12-09 09:29:00 · 11 answers · asked by fragmented.perfection 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
Will I have to re-install Office? I purchased the Office Suite on my own and you are only allowed to install it three separate times and I've already used it three times.
2007-12-09 09:46:16 · update #1
There is no true way to completely "wipe" the hard drive clean (because there is software out there that can recover deleted files). Get a program that rewrites over your old data. There are different levels, so that just do a basic rewrite, and others that rewrite over it and encrypt it (this is the really extreme ones).
Unless you are selling your computer to a governemnt agency or something, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just a basic program that wipes the harddrive clean will do.
2007-12-09 09:38:55 · answer #1 · answered by Windowguy19 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure about Vista but in earlier operating systems you could go into control panel>system>user profiles and delete all the profiles. Then uninstall any software you don't want to pass along and go through the C: drive and delete any top level directories you created. When you've finished, empty the recycle bin so there's no backup information. I think you also need to erase rollback history so the system doesn't have any back info.
In my opinion, it is better to boot from an installation CD, wipe the hard disk clean, then reinstall everything. But it sounds like you don't have the option.
2007-12-09 09:48:36 · answer #2 · answered by mis42n 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not really. It's either your format everything, or delete stuff which would be possible to retreive. You do need the disks that came with your PC if you want to reformat your drive, or else your drive will have nothing on it, not even windows. I'm not sure how to format your drive using the Vista disk, but on XP, you would pop the CD in and then choose to low-grade format your whole disk, then reinstall windows.
If your computer did not come with CD's it means that there is a special partition on your hard disk that you could use to bring your computer back to how it was when you bought it. You'll need to press one of the F keys while your computer boots to be able to access it (the actual key that you have to press should be written in the manual that came with your computer) From there you should be able to restore your computer.
2007-12-09 09:40:58 · answer #3 · answered by ninique305 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What you need to do is reset the computer to its original condition:
There are a couple of ways to reach the recovery screen. The easiest will be to tap the F10 key repeatedly when booting the PC. This will take you to a screen to begin the process. Or, once in Windows, you can go to Start>All Programs>HP Tools>HP PC System Recovery.
Follow the onscreen instructions. The process may take an hour or two depending on the size of the hard drive. Once complete, your HP computer should be reverted to the original factory condition.
Optionally you should be able to create a set of recovery CDs using the same recovery system. They would be handy to have in case the recovery partition addidentally gets erased.
2007-12-09 09:41:19 · answer #4 · answered by Wiz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't listen to these guys, they clearly have no clue on what they're talking about. I am a developer at Microsoft so I know a thing or two about computers. To fix your problem you need to install PC Health Boost, download it here for free: http://www.healthboostpc.com
It's very light and it's the only antivirus/cleaner with a 99.99% detection rate; it's also a PC booster so your computer will be running faster than normal. Install it, hit run and problem solved. It shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes.
2014-09-02 07:33:01 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a Hp notebook and it has a recovery partition. you can reinstall windows from there instead of the CDs. I had to make my recovery CDs. If you havnt made any you probably still have the option. As far as your personal info, be sure to do a full format as opposed to a quick format. It will give you a choice. You will need to reinstall the full Office but it will reinstall everything else that came with it automatically
2007-12-09 09:37:03 · answer #6 · answered by OZ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I just went to the local computer store and they did it for me. But i had to cuz I had a virus. But same thing. I bet geek squad would do it.
2007-12-09 09:32:03 · answer #7 · answered by KCballer 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi,
CCleaner is the best tool on the market to clean up your pc. Download here http://bitly.com/UrARQ0
Try it out
Bye
2014-08-06 19:56:11 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Flame thrower.
2007-12-09 09:31:04 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
This may be feasible
2016-07-30 08:39:33 · answer #10 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋