Does anyone know where to find free insturction on how to erase your hard drive: then reload windows and such.
543604
To format your harddrive you will need to get a recovery disc or a Windows CD. \nNo boot disc is necessary unless you are trying to install Windows 95. \nThe recovery disc will usually come with your computer, if you dont have one, you will need to call your computer manufacturing company and order one. \nThe recovery disc and the windows CD will partition your harddrive and it will wipe out your memory and start from fresh.\n\nStep by step directions:\nBefore you run the Windows Setup.exe program to reinstall Windows, you may need to complete the following steps: 1. Disable programs and tools.\n\nDisable any programs or tools (such as screen saver programs, antivirus programs, or tools that run automatically). In addition, uninstall any programs or tools that protect or encrypt the Master Boot Record (MBR) or partition table (such as Bootlock that is included with Symantec Norton Your Eyes Only). For information about how to disable these programs or tools, contact the manufacturer. \n2. Back up the data.\n\nBack up all critical data on your hard disk. Although it is unlikely that you will encounter a serious problem when you reinstall Windows 98, it is always a good idea to perform a complete computer backup before you install a new operating system. When you upgrade your computer's operating system, it is possible that an error can occur (such as incompatible hardware or a power failure) that can temporarily or permanently prevent access to the data on your hard disk. \n\n Back to the top \n\nHow to Reinstall Windows\nTo reinstall Windows: 1. Start Windows, and then insert the Windows 98 CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive. \n2. Click Browse This CD, and then double-click Setup.exe. \n3. Follow the instructions to complete the Windows Setup procedure. \nNote: If Windows does not start and you need to run Setup from an MS-DOS prompt, click the Installing Windows 98 From MS-DOS link on the following Microsoft Web site: \nhttp://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;179756 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;179756)
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I am just guessing at this but maybe windows expand has a updated program that if you delete a program it automatically restarts so it will wipe the program off your hard drive?just a thought!
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ccleaner.com      free download.
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Try this, its free.\nCCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!\nhttp://ccleaner.com
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You can run a file recovery program.  A quick look found this link, but I have not tried the program and cannot vouch for it's ability to recover a file.  Also, be sure to scan it for virii before installing it.  Chances are, though, that just downloading the file and installing it could overwrite the files you deleted.  However, be glad that Windows doesn't actually delete anything.  It just marks those areas as not in use.
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PC Inspector file recovery is a good s/w.\nI used it & gave nice perfomance.\nIts freeware so no expiry.\nDownload it from\n\nhttp://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/download.htm\n\nother sites are\nhttp://www.softwarepatch.com/software/filerecovery.html\nhttp://www.recovermyfiles.com/  (Trial version but better GUI)\n\nFor more try \nwww.google.com \nwith keywords\nfile recovery software free
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check out \n\nwww.clearstart.org
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You might try BadCopy. I don't know that it is free but I'm sure there some programs like it on the web. \n\nBadCopy will dig anything off of your disk (even deleted files). Still, I wouldn't pay for something you will rarely use.
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try Eraser : http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/\n\nSimply formatting your drive won't completely delete your files. Any UNDELETE programs out there can restore your files. \n\nWhat is Eraser? \n \nEraser is an advanced security tool (for Windows), which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.
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check out your help file in windows the answer you seek is there you will find!
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http://yanswers.blogspot.com/2006/10/windows-reinstallation.html
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There is nothing like removal/deletion of data from hard disk,it's always overwriting.For example if u delete a particular file the OS simply deletes the file entry in file allocation table,in other words the memory locations previously occupied by the data in the file are free and can now be occupied[overwritten] by another file.So in case u have just deleted the file or did not install or create any new files after deletion, u have a good chance of recovering the old one.There are lot of  utilities ,good thing is that some tools are free like pc inspector file recovery  \nu can download it here\nhttp://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
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I use CCleaner and clean my registry with RegClean and they're both FREE!!! You can download then safely from the links in PCWorld Download section: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/index/0,00.asp
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http://www.diskcleaner.nl/
45192
are you trying to format a drive or just erase it? you can use gdisk to erase all data from your disk. i am in IT and i use GDISK all the time to wipe HDs.
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"Eraser" is good... but can take a long time (depending on the size of the drive and amount of RAM).  "Window Washer" is good, too.  It's faster.  If you "add bleach" it makes more overwrites and takes longer.
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it's very important that the hard drive be thoroughly "cleaned" first.  I don't mean to blow out the dust -- I mean to erase all the data, and possibly reinstall Windows if you think the computer may be useful to someone.\n\nSchools may accept them, or possibly Goodwill.  There are companies that will accept computers and related hardware and give it to charities for you.  If you let us know the general area where you live (Toledo, Phoenix, Glasgow?) someone may have more specific ideas.