"new" Old Pc Hard Drive Cleanout

"new" Old Pc Hard Drive Cleanout I got a used laptop and want to wipe hard drive but dont know how to

#1 ChrisThompsonvlhd

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Posted 30 July 2011 - 03:29 PM

Hi pcworld,
I got a used laptop which has a bunch of documents and programs that are absolutly pointless and since there are a ton of them I just want to get rid of them all by wiping the hard drive. The laptop that I have is the Toshiba Satellite M55-S3293 and running Windows XP. After I wipe it id also like to re-install XP. Any suggesttions?

#2 techie4fun

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Posted 30 July 2011 - 03:51 PM

Hi. You can reinstall Windows XP, reformat (basically a wipe) and it'll be considered clean. Did you receive any system disks when you received the laptop? You'll need a Windows XP install disk to reinstall Windows XP.

#3 ChrisThompsonvlhd

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Posted 31 July 2011 - 07:23 AM

techie4fun, on 30 July 2011 - 03:51 PM, said:

I have the windows xp install disk but when I go to the C: hard disk and click format I cant because it says that the operating system is running on that disk. I was thinking making a boot-able flash drive running xp then i could format the drive and then re install xp. Do you think that that would work?

#4 compnovo

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Posted 31 July 2011 - 08:00 AM

ChrisThompsonvlhd, on 31 July 2011 - 07:23 AM, said:

techie4fun, on 30 July 2011 - 03:51 PM, said:

Since you have the install disc all you need to do is boot to it. Insert the disc and reboot, then enter the BIOS when the first screen comes up. In the BIOS you can change the boot order so that your PC boots to the optical drive first. Save and exit, hit any key at the prompt, then simply follow the XP install instructions.

This post has been edited by compnovo: 31 July 2011 - 08:01 AM

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#5 LiveBrianD

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Posted 31 July 2011 - 04:49 PM

ChrisThompsonvlhd, on 30 July 2011 - 03:29 PM, said:

When you reinstall XP you HAVE to wipe the partition if there's stuff on it. You format it in setup.

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#6 ChrisThompsonvlhd

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Posted 03 August 2011 - 04:52 AM

DUH! Wow im so stupid wow thanks for your help guys!

#7 AlexanderParsan

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Posted 04 December 2011 - 06:31 AM

ChrisThompsonvlhd, on 03 August 2011 - 04:52 AM, said:

DUH! Wow im so stupid wow thanks for your help guys!

By the way you should make sure you know which partion is which.
When my vendor disc said rebooting in 3,2,1It took me right back to the disc and I put it on a 5GB partion.
If it is a normal XP disc don't worry.
everything should be fine.