I have been wondering for awhile and would like to know how to fully wipe your hard drive so its ready for a new OS.
I have been wondering for awhile and would like to know how to fully wipe your hard drive so its ready for a new OS.
Win9x you use a bootdisk with the necessary startup files and other necessary files which include FDISK and FORMAT.
WinXP you use the bootable CD that came with your system which can Quick Format or Full Format the disk.
No matter what your OS is I'd do a Full Format.
Win9x you use a bootdisk with the necessary startup files and other necessary files which include FDISK and FORMAT.
WinXP you use the bootable CD that came with your system which can Quick Format or Full Format the disk.
No matter what your OS is I'd do a Full Format.
My comp came pre-installed with windows XP
Then you'd use the Restore CD that came with your PC to do that. That's if your system came with one. Some newer systems are using a restore partition for formatting and then reinstalling WinXP.
mine has that. it's on a FAT32 drive with about 5GB storage .
so how would i delete it with basically no cd that can erase the M$ partion?
Why would you want to erase the WinXP Restore Files partition? That's how you'd restore your system.
Why would you want to erase the WinXP Restore Files partition? That's how you'd restore your system.
my comp came with no such CDS.
everythink was preinstalled
(bought from pcworld/UK)
mine has that. it's on a FAT32 drive with about 5GB storage.
so how would i delete it with basically no cd that can erase the M$ partion?
My HP came with a recovery partition. It has a "Recovery CD Creator" program that allows you to make 1 set of recovery disks and a tool disk. The tool disk lets you delete the recovery files and remove the partition.
Then you'd use the Restore CD that came with your PC to do that. That's if your system came with one. Some newer systems are using a restore partition for formatting and then reinstalling WinXP.
i want to erase Drive C not D(recovery)
edit:just so im clear, i do NOT want to reinstall windows.
i want to erase Drive C not D(recovery)
edit:just so im clear, i do NOT want to reinstall windows.
Western Digital has a Lifeguard Diagnostic tool that you can use to write "0"s to the harddrive, wiping all data. I don't know if you can use it to erase a partition or if it just does the entire drive but it might be worth looking at. They both Windows and DOS versions.
writting it all with 0 doesnt do anything. it will remain the same size because of the fact that the zeroes are there.
Answering MacmillaN only,
Everything Andavari told you was correct, all the rest of the posts have gone off topic a bit.
You should have got a restore CD from PCWorld, I deal with a few of their computers, which all have restore CD's.
Go back to the store where you bought it quoting the model number of your computer and hopefully they can provide you with a replacement CD.
Restore CD's have been the norm for many years now, since they stopped shipping computers with original Windows CD's.
Answering MacmillaN only,
Everything Andavari told you was correct, all the rest of the posts have gone off topic a bit.
You should have got a restore CD from PCWorld, I deal with a few of their computers, which all have restore CD's.
Go back to the store where you bought it quoting the model number of your computer and hopefully they can provide you with a replacement CD.
Restore CD's have been the norm for many years now, since they stopped shipping computers with original Windows CD's.
Finally....