If you're using Windows 8. Just follow these steps :. You may be asked whether you would like to remove files "quickly" or "thoroughly. To reset a PC using Windows 11, follows these steps from Microsoft support :. When performing a system wipe on Mac computers, there are a few extra things to be aware of. The steps can change based on which processor your Mac has, and potentially which update of MacOS it has. There is one method for older Intel processors, and another for the proprietary Silicon chips that have been released in the past couple of years.
Additionally, there is a third method that came about with MacOS' latest update, Monterey, in October All Silicon-based Macs support the Monterey update, but some of the Intel-based do not. If you're unsure which processor and OS the computer has, you can find these specs by clicking the Apple menu in the top left corner of the screen, then selecting "About This Mac" in the dropdown.
With your old device wiped clean, you can now pass it on to a new owner with confidence that data is gone and can't be lifted. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close.
Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Computer Hardware. How to Wipe a Computer's Hard Drive. Wiping your computer's hard drive doesn't have to involve destroying it with a hammer. Reinstalling Windows will not erase the hard drive unless you tell it to reformat the hard drive before reinstalling the operating system.
You will have to reinstall all your programs that were installed prior to reinstall but all your saved files will still be there. You Simply Can't You should only format your hard drive when it is necessary to do so, such as when you need to reinstall Windows. No, Not unless it was a "disk image"backup.
A no disk error is the result of the hard drive crashing. Replace the hard drive, and reinstall the proper Windows software for the specific computer. You can do that, but it's easier to connect the hard drive to a working pc, and clean. It works if you are going to reinstall windows, if you are planning on using linux. Just install it, clean the partitions exactly as you said.
Whether or not the hard drive has Windows installed on it is irrelevant to the actual process of replacing the drive. Otherwise, you can simply replace the drive and reinstall Windows as you would normally. Hidden Recovery. I use my Compaq computer 'start up' discs to erase the hard drive, this is called 'formating'. Don : I agree with Don. Reformatting wipes the drive clean, and you get to start over.
However, if you are planning on adding it in addition to your old one, then you wont have to reinstall it. You can still reinstall with the disc, however. They wouldn't be listed if you had actually performed a clean install, since the list of programs would have been erased with the rest of the hard drive.
Thus the obvious answer is that you did not actually do a clean install. This is a very vague question. It could be anything. A clean installation is a installation where the hard drive is reformatted and windows is installed fresh from the DVD or CD it came from. It depends on what for you are going to use the hard drive. If you want to use it like the system drive, then the answer is Yes, you have to reinstall everything.
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For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Solved Want to donate old Win 98 laptop and wipe hard drive prior. This section takes Windows 10 as example to explain how to wipe computer completely. If your computer is running an older version of Windows, you can try steps in Method 2 to erase hard disk.
Here are steps to wipe a hard drive in Windows Step 1. Click " Start " menu and select " Settings " option. Step 2. Click " Recovery " option on the left navigation options and then click " Get Started " button under " Reset this PC " section. Step 3. Select " Remove everything " option. This will remove all of your personal files, apps, and settings and start over. Step 4. Select " Remove files and clean the drive " when you are asked to whether to clean the drives too.
The cleaning process may take longer time but it makes sure no one can recover erased files. Step 5. Click " Next " and " Reset " button on following steps to complete the task. The secure way to erase data for good is overwriting data and refill hard disk using zeros or random data, so that nobody can recover wiped data with disk recovery software. Sounds complex?
Actually, nowadays cleaning hard disk is not a complicated work, and you can easily and securely erase disk using disk wipe software. DiskGenius is free software for permanently data wiping. With this hard disk eraser, you can wipe all data on by filling disk sector by sector, making files unrecoverable.
Here are features of disk wiping function:. The following content introduces how to erase data in difference situations, and you can choose which to use in line with actual demands, for instance, you want to clear an SD card or other removable devices, Case 1 is the proper solution; if you want to wipe computer, then go to Case 2.
By way of the free disk erasure DiskGenius Free Edition, you can completely wipe hard drives and removable drives via rewriting sectors to 00 or random characters. Thus, files on the hard drive cannot be recovered by any method, ensuring privacy. Connect the removable device to your computer and make sure it can be recognized by Windows. Install and run DiskGenius from your PC and you can see all local disks and portable devices on the main interface.
Select the external hard drive or SD card you want to erase data, and select " Erase Sectors " option under Tools menu. Select items to fill disk sectors and click Erase button on the popped-up window.
There are four options to fill disk sectors in the drop-down list, i. You can either choose one from "00, FF and Random Data", or specify item to fill disk. DiskGenius asks confirmation for the action, click Erase button to continue. Since the process wipes data permanently, you should make sure you are erasing correcting disk and important files have been backed up. Step 6. The disk eraser starts wiping data on selected drive and the process may take long time if the disk has very large capacity.
In this example, you can learn how to wipe a computer's main hard drive where Windows is installed. Operating system does not allow to erase system while it is running, and we can only wipe non-system partitions.
The following steps show how to reboot computer to WinPE version directly and then erase system disk. Launch the free disk wipe tool DiskGenius from your Windows computer.
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