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wiping my pc - recommendations please

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routerinfection

Regular Contributor
I was looking to wipe the hard drive in my pc. Are there any free wiping software programs I could download to wipe my pc. There are a lot of programs that cost money, but I was looking for a free one. Also how do I reinstall my os after?
 
Last edited:
Just download the Windows 10 or 11 iso file on a usb drive. Boot up to it and do a full hard drive format and reinstall OS.
 
What PC do you have?

You may have that option in the BIOS.

What OS do you have?

If it's Windows, you can do wipe the data out from there.

And if you want to reinstall Windows, download the latest from the link below. It will create a bootable USB drive for you.


Use the link to create installation media.
 
You can format secondary partitions from Windows itself (ie other than C drive). You can just use the Windows installer to delete/format any partitions including the “c” drive if you are gonna be using the same hardware for the reinstall. Don’t need any separate software unless you are trying to do something specific that’s different from what we are assuming so far.
 
Last edited:
L&LD said:
What PC do you have?

You may have that option in the BIOS.

What OS do you have?

If it's Windows, you can do wipe the data out from there.

And if you want to reinstall Windows, download the latest from the link below. It will create a bootable USB drive for you.


Use the link to create installation media.
Click to expand...
What PC do you have?
-it's a intel i5 core- I hope this answered your question
You may have that option in the BIOS.
-I think I do have the option but I was told that in order to properly wipe a hard drive I would have to download a specific software?
What OS do you have?
-my OS is windows.
If it's Windows, you can do wipe the data out from there.
-I thought downloading a software would be the proper way to wipe a hard drive?
And if you want to reinstall Windows, download the latest from the link below. It will create a bootable USB drive for you.
-Thanks for the link I will reinstall windows 11 from here
 
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det721 said:
Just download the Windows 10 or 11 iso file on a usb drive. Boot up to it and do a full hard drive format and reinstall OS.
Click to expand...
In order to properly wipe my hard drive I was told to download a program/software to properly wipe it? what's your take on this.
 
avtella said:
You can format secondary partitions from Windows itself (ie other than C drive). You can just use the Windows installer to delete/format any partitions including the “c” drive if you are gonna be using the same hardware for the reinstall. Don’t need any separate software unless you are trying to do something specific that’s different from what we are assuming so far.
Click to expand...
If I could wipe my hard drive from windows why would people create a program/software to wipe the hard drive. Not trying to say your wrong I was told in order to properly wipe the hard drive I had to purchase or download proper software. What's your take on this.
 
avtella said:
You can format secondary partitions from Windows itself (ie other than C drive). You can just use the Windows installer to delete/format any partitions including the “c” drive if you are gonna be using the same hardware for the reinstall. Don’t need any separate software unless you are trying to do something specific that’s different from what we are assuming so far.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by secondary partitions? I want to wipe my hard drive to my pc. Are you saying there's more then one partition.
 
Tech9 said:
Do what you were told. You didn't believe most of what SNB Forum members were telling you before. Why asking here again?
Click to expand...
No I'm going to do what these three people recommended. I wanted to hear what they had to say regarding other peoples' recommendations regarding downloading specific software. I thought it was strange people would create a program and charge money for something that's already on a pc so maybe there would be a reason as to why I would purchase or download it.
 
This software re-writers every sector of the drive, making it unrecoverable by other software. You don't need that.
 
No, an Intel i5 isn't the answer I was looking for. :)

If you have a business-oriented system, (i.e. Lenovo, HP, etc.) you may have more options.

If you have an SSD or even an HDD if you want to 'nuke' the drive completely, you want a utility to Securely Erase it. Again, the manufacturer of your drive may offer that for no charge. Or, see the link below.

How to delete files securely and completely in Windows 11 using SDelete | TechRepublic

Note that some people create programs to sell to take advantage of people that don't know any better. Thankfully, you do, now. ;)

And yes, on a normal install of Windows, a drive will have more than one partition. It is different to wipe a partition than to wipe a whole drive (and I'm not talking just the capacity difference). Note that with an SSD, it takes a fraction of a second. With a HDD, it may take days (depending on the capacity of the drive in question).
 
L&LD said:
No, an Intel i5 isn't the answer I was looking for. :)

If you have a business-oriented system, (i.e. Lenovo, HP, etc.) you may have more options.

If you have an SSD or even an HDD if you want to 'nuke' the drive completely, you want a utility to Securely Erase it. Again, the manufacturer of your drive may offer that for no charge. Or, see the link below.

How to delete files securely and completely in Windows 11 using SDelete | TechRepublic

Note that some people create programs to sell to take advantage of people that don't know any better. Thankfully, you do, now. ;)

And yes, on a normal install of Windows, a drive will have more than one partition. It is different to wipe a partition than to wipe a whole drive (and I'm not talking just the capacity difference). Note that with an SSD, it takes a fraction of a second. With a HDD, it may take days (depending on the capacity of the drive in question).
Click to expand...
Sorry I have a gateway.

When I click file explorer it says local disk (c:). Is this a hard drive?

You're saying I need a utility to securely erase it the hard drive. So are you saying the settings in windows would be a utility to give me the option to nuke the hard drive correct?

Thanks for informing me on the programs. I learned something new from this website.

Do I wipe the hard drive first or reinstall the os first? Or would wiping the hard drive automatically erase the os and I would be required to reinstall it unless the os came with the pc?

Last question, Next to the Local disk (c:) it says dvd drive (e) (f) and (g) will this also remove data from them as well after performing the nuking of the drive.

Thanks again for your feedback, very helpful.
 
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