We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Wiping PC clean

And not with a dishcloth !! :j


I've reasonable PC skills and knowledge, but would like to know if I use the suggested methods on these forums to wipe my hard drive, will it wipe everything, including the OS ??


Many thanks all !
Baby-Mechanic

The only reason I keep smiling is so that people wonder what I've been up to !!

Comments

  • closed
    closed Posts: 10,886 Forumite
    edited 8 April 2014 at 3:30PM
    depends what methods

    if you're booting from a disc to do it, your os will probably go, which isn't necessary if the machine could be reused
    !!
    > . !!!! ----> .
  • KillDisk


    CCleaner


    DBAN


    Eraser


    Disk Wipe
    Baby-Mechanic

    The only reason I keep smiling is so that people wonder what I've been up to !!
  • closed
    closed Posts: 10,886 Forumite
    that's 5 methods, ccleaner and eraser will leave windows
    !!
    > . !!!! ----> .
  • Just what I wanted to hear ....
    Baby-Mechanic

    The only reason I keep smiling is so that people wonder what I've been up to !!
  • closed
    closed Posts: 10,886 Forumite
    what do you want to do though
    !!
    > . !!!! ----> .
  • Get it ready to sell on ....
    Baby-Mechanic

    The only reason I keep smiling is so that people wonder what I've been up to !!
  • poppellerant
    poppellerant Posts: 1,970 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Is there any reason you can't reinstall the OS? If you can reinstall the OS, then do a full format of the harddrive before reinstalling.

    Simply deleting files and erasing the unused space is just asking for trouble. Windows and many programs leave all sorts of traces.
  • henm2
    henm2 Posts: 723 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    DBAN booted off a cd or usb flash drive is all you need. If using a usb flash drive remove the drive before you start the actual wipe or the contents of the flash drive will be nuked also
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 601K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 259.1K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.