Quote:
Originally Posted by Fly
nuke it baby............but it didn't work.
i think i may have just overwritten it.........damn.
there's still existing shit from before on it.......damn
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Assuming you're using Windows, if you insert the reinstall CD/DVD and tell it to reinstall, it will assume that you want to keep all your documents, etc and will in fact reinstall the operating system cleanly but will leave all your documents intact.
If you want to do a fresh, this-hard-drive-has-nothing-but-zeros install of the operating system, follow these steps:
- To format a hard drive with Windows XP or 2000, insert Windows CD and restart your computer.
- Your computer should automatically boot from the CD to the Windows Setup Main Menu.
- At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.
- Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
- If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC.
- Use the ARROW keys to select the partition or the unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition. Press D to delete an existing partition, or press C to create a new partition.
- Type the size in megabytes (MB) that you want to use for the new partition, and then press ENTER, or just press ENTER to create the partition with the maximum size.
- Select the format option that you want to use for the partition (Recommended: NTFS), and then press ENTER.
- After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that appear on the screen to continue installing Windows.
Ref:
Format Hard Drive: How to Format a Hard Drive, Reinstall Windows, Wipe ALL Data
Now TECHNICALLY you're probably only modifying the partition tables and doing a quick format, rather than a full format. It depends on what your goal is. If you're trying to hide Soviet-era nuclear submarine plans, this isn't the way to do it.
But for most other purposes, this works.