Computer help: erasing/cleaning hard drive

doubledeuce22

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #1

basically I want to erase everything on an old laptop. i can't find my cd that came with it.

is there any software or anything i can do that will pretty much erase everything?

i have access to torrents if there is something i can dowload...

 

celticGreen+

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #2

something like this would be good: http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm

 

doubledeuce22

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #3

looking into that one now...

basically, i don't care about losing anything on the computer, i just want it to be like it was before it was touched, if that makes sense.

 

celticGreen+

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #4

ohh got ya - sorry, thought you wanted to actively destroy the data on there and leave it empty.

 

ANOTHERDAY

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #5

doubledeuce22 said:

basically I want to erase everything on an old laptop. i can't find my cd that came with it.

is there any software or anything i can do that will pretty much erase everything?

i have access to torrents if there is something i can dowload...

Click to expand...

Smash it with a hammer, thats they only full proof way.

 

doubledeuce22

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #6

ANOTHERDAY? said:

Smash it with a hammer, thats they only full proof way.

Click to expand...

not so much worried about security, more just about having space freed up and running quicker

 

celticGreen+

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #7

does the computer have the windows stick /w your software key on it?

 

doubledeuce22

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #8

celticGreen said:

does the computer have the windows stick /w your software key on it?

Click to expand...

its a laptop.... have sticker on bottom that says 'windows xp home edition', then has a bar code, then under that a 'product key'

is this a 'yes'?

 

celticGreen+

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #9

yep -i'd give this a shot: http://btjunkie.org/torrent/Windows.../6681d107ccac647ab376fd2b92e19c81ea4df32a20ee

burn it to disc, looks like it's an untouched copy of the retail disc

 

doubledeuce22

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #10

so basically i download this, burn to disc, and re-install windows?

 

celticGreen+

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• Jun 22, 2010

• #11

yes - you can choose when you reinstall if you want to format the harddrive first and start from scratch, or if you just want to reinstall the OS

 

AdamSelene

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• Jun 23, 2010

• #12

Most laptops don't ship with CDs anymore. They have a program that will burn restore CDs. If you haven't deleted that, it may still be there, you can burn OS/Restore CDs.

Some laptops come with a restore partition instead. Honestly not sure how that works.

Otherwise visit the manufacturer's support website, lookup the laptop model and download/burn the drivers you will need (video/sound/network/etc) and do a clean install from any generic operating system disc.

 

SoCal

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• Jun 23, 2010

• #13

just a word of advice... old PCs run slow not only b/c of data.. but also b/c harddrives begin to fail. hard drives die slowly. they begin to run slower and make noises until they ultimatley konk out.