Re: Clean re-installation

Sonars UK wrote:
Hi,

I've just purchased a new Vista computer and want to give my old computer to someone in my family.

I've thought about deleting all of my documents, etc... before I gave it away but I think a complete format and re-installation of the operating system would better, more total solution.

Can anyone offer any advice on how to do this?

Thanks in advance.


Sonars UK


To protect your personal information and data from any future users of average skills, you should, at the very least, format the hard drive. You can do this using the original Installation CD. Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

If you wish to do a more thorough job of protecting your personal data, WipeDrive (http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php) meets U.S. DoD standards for securely cleaning surplus unclassified hard drives, and could be used before formatting and reinstalling the OS and applications.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: S-L-O-W win2000pro
    ... Most new UPS will pay for damages by ... Format the floppy on a W2000 box, and do not use a quick format. ... Boot computer into W98se using your Boot Disk. ... installation didn't install activex properly. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: S-L-O-W win2000pro
    ... A UPS is actually a 110v. ... Format the floppy on a W2000 box, and do not use a quick format. ... Boot computer into W98se using your Boot Disk. ... installation didn't install activex properly. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: CAB-file structure.
    ... installation file working files, settings, and resource files, wich can ... CAB files are purely an archive format used to bundle up multiple files into ... What is important for installation of Windows Mobile ... There are two main CAB file formats you might encounter with respect to ...
    (microsoft.public.pocketpc.developer)
  • Re: XP Booting
    ... If you wish to format the system drive and start over, ... Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive, ... To Setup Windows XP now, ... To Repair a Windows XP Installation using Recovery Console press R. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Windows XP Setup Freeze
    ... The windows installation seemed to work fine. ... > I reformatted with an NTFS-Quick format, ... there was no progress bar on the left-center of the ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment)