Deadgol

Why would you want to reinstall Windows 10 completely?

How To Format Windows 10 Laptop

Perhaps you're selling or giving away your PC, and you want to make sure all your apps, settings, files, event history, and other personal information is safely erased so the new owner can get a fresh start.

Or maybe you're experiencing a pesky problem and rather than spend hours troubleshooting you just want to start with a clean installation of Windows.

In either case, the Reset option is a great alternative to the old-fashioned clean install. This feature, which has been significantly refined since its debut in Windows 8, lays down a completely new copy of your current Windows version, without any third-party drivers or software that might be causing problems.

If you don’t have a Windows 10 install disc of some sort, you’ll need to follow Steps 1 to 6 of our How to perform a clean installation of Windows 10 guide, but don’t go any further than. Microsoft allows you to get an entirely fresh system by performing a clean install. This is particularly useful if you’ve purchased a new Windows 10 PC and it includes manufacturer-installed bloatware you don’t want. Or, you may need to perform a clean install on a computer without an existing Windows system after installing a new hard drive. Second, you want to wipe out the drive using a secure method to make sure you've removed your personal information and applications beyond recovery, and install a clean copy of Windows 10 to. Windows 7/8/10: How To Completely Wipe Hard Drive EASY & FOR FREE. If you are looking to wipe or clean your hard drive, this tool is for you. Before disposing of your computer, a safe practice.

You don't need any installation media or product keys, and you don't have to fuss with BIOS settings to boot from an alternative device.

Wipe Computer Clean Windows 10 Without …

You can't reset your PC by accident. The process involves at least four steps that require choices on your part, with one final confirmation that lays out in very clear terms exactly what's about to happen. You can back out at any time before you click that last button.

To start, go to Settings > Update & security > Recovery. Under the Reset this PC heading, click Get Started.

Looking for the right steps to completely wipe hard disk in Windows 10, then this blog post is dedicated to you. Image: risolvo.it. Have you ever came across a situation when your computer’s HDD is full of malware and formatting one of the partition doesn’t help? How to: Perform a clean install using Reset this PC in Windows 10. There is an option that can format the system securely removing any trace of your data. Remove files and clean the drive - if you plan to giveaway or resell your computer, this option ensures the computer is cleaned properly. Its takes a bit longer, but it is recommended if you.

In the first set of options, choose Keep My Files (best choice if you're planning to reuse the PC yourself) or Remove Everything (if you're turning the device over to someone else).

If you choose to remove all files, the next option allows you to wipe the empty space those files occupied so they can't be recovered using disk utility software.

After making those choices, click the Reset button on the final summary page. The reset operation doesn't take long, and when the process is complete you can sign in (or set up a new account), restore your apps, and get back to work without any cruft from your old installation.

Windows will automatically download and install the most recent cumulative update to complete the installation.

One bonus if you choose the option to keep your files: The Reset option puts a neatly formatted file on the desktop when you sign back in, telling you which desktop apps were removed. Use that list as a cheat sheet for reinstalling your favorite programs.

Previous tip: Monitor system performance in real time

Next week: Another Windows 10 tip from Ed Bott

Here's what Windows 10 Creators Update can do:

Related Topics:

Enterprise Software Microsoft Windows PCs Reviews

To wipe a hard drive means to completely erase the drive of all its information. Deleting everything does not wipe a hard drive and formatting does not usually wipe a hard drive. You'll need to take an extra step to wipe the hard drive so the data cannot be easily reconstructed later.

How To Wipe Computer Clean Windows 10 Registry Manually

When you format a hard drive or delete a partition, you're usually only deleting the file system, making the data invisible, or no longer actively indexed, but not gone. A file recovery program or special hardware often recovers the information.

If you want to make sure that your private information is gone forever, you'll need to wipe the hard drive using special software.

How Do I Wipe My Computer Clean Windows 10

See the tip at the bottom of the page for information on a 'simple' wipe using the format command in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista.

How To Wipe Computer Clean Windows 10 Computer

How to Wipe a Computer Hard Drive

This process could take several minutes to several hours depending on how big the drive is and what method you choose.

1. Back up anything you want to keep, such as photos, software product keys, etc. When the hard drive wipe is complete, there will be absolutely no way to get anything on the drive back.

   If you've already been using an online backup service, you can safely assume that all your important files are already backed up online. If you haven't been so proactive, pick from several free offline backup tools that can save your files to an external hard drive.

   Back up everything you want to keep; sometimes several virtual drives share space on a single physical hard drive. View the drives (volumes) that sit on a hard drive from the Disk Management tool in Windows.

2. Download a free data destruction program. Any of the first six programs we recommend on that list will work great because they can be used to wipe a hard drive from outside of Windows, a necessary feature if you want to wipe the hard drive that Windows is installed on.

   We're big fans of DBAN, our first pick on that list. It's probably the most widely used hard drive wiping tool. See our How to Wipe a Hard Drive with DBAN tutorial if you're nervous about hard drive wiping or prefer a more detailed walkthrough.

   DBAN does not wipe-solid state drives. If you need to erase an SSD, you'll have to find a different program in that list mentioned above.

   Wiping a hard drive is operating system independent if you use one of the bootable tools from our list.

   There are actually several ways to completely erase a hard drive, but using data destruction software is the easiest and still allows the hard drive to be used again.

3. Next, complete whatever steps are necessary to install the software or, in the case of a bootable program like DBAN, get the ISO image on a CD or DVD disc, or a USB device like a flash drive:

   If you're using a CD or DVD, this process usually involves burning the ISO image to a disc and then booting from the disc to run the program.

   If you're using a flash drive or other USB drive, this process usually involves burning the ISO image to the USB device and then booting from that USB drive to get started.

4. Wipe the hard drive according to the program's instructions.

   Mostwiped.'

   Is Shredding Files What You're Really After?

   If what you really want to do is just make sure that files you delete on a regular basis are really gone and not retrievable with special tools, a data wiping program is more than you need. See our list of free file shredder software programs for programs that 'destroy' individual files on an as-needed basis.

   Many of those shredder programs also do what's called a free space wipe, which is a wipe of all the 'empty' space on your hard drive. The purpose for this is to ensure that the files you've already deleted are actually deleted for good.

   Still confused? See Wipe vs Shred vs Delete vs Erase: What's the Difference?