How to erase my hard drive and start over

Updated: 12/30/2021 past Estimator Promise

Computer hard drive

About computers have a organization restore disc or built-in restore procedure on the difficult bulldoze to reset the computer to the original or default settings (mill reset). Resetting, formatting, or restoring, a computer helps eliminate bug with reckoner software, including corrupt program files and virus infections. Instructions on how to restore your computer back to the original software are provided below.

Warning

Restoring your computer erases all the information on the hard drive and makes it similar new. In one case the steps beneath are completed, you cannot restore whatever lost data. Dorsum up any files you practise not want to lose earlier proceeding with the restore process.

  • How to format a hard drive, SSD, or USB flash drive.
  • How to make certain all data is erased on a computer hard drive.
  • Why am I unable to restore my figurer using restore disc?
  • How to reset a lost or forgotten Windows password.

Erasing the hard drive and reinstalling Windows

To erase your hard bulldoze and reinstall Windows, select a link below for your version of Windows and follow the steps.

Tip

If you're erasing everything and reinstalling Windows, an administrator login proper name or password isn't needed.

Windows 11

Follow these instructions to erase or uninstall and reinstall Windows 11.

  1. Open up the Start menu.
  2. Select the Settings app (Windows 10 Settings icon.).

Tip

If you don't see the Settings app in the Start menu, click the magnifying glass icon on the taskbar. In the text field at the superlative of the search window, type settings and printing Enter.

  1. In the Settings window, click the System option in the left navigation bill of fare.

Windows 11 Settings - System option

  1. Curlicue down on the right side of the window and select the Recovery option.
  2. On the right side of the Recovery window, under Recovery options, click the Reset PC button.

Windows 11 Settings - Recovery options

  1. Choose the Keep my files or Remove everything option, depending on if you want to preserve your files or delete everything and outset over.
  2. Follow the prompts to begin the recovery process.

Windows is reset, keeping your files intact or erasing everything, depending on the option yous selected above in step 6.

Windows 10

Follow these instructions to erase or uninstall and reinstall Windows 10.

  1. Press the Windows key, blazon Settings, and so press Enter.
  2. In the Settings window, select the Update & security option.

Update & Security icon.

  1. Select the Recovery (A) choice in the left navigation pane, and and so click the Get started button (B).

Starting the recovery process Windows 10.

  1. Choose the Keep my files or Remove everything pick, depending on if y'all want to preserve your files or delete everything and offset over.

Reset this PC options.

  1. Follow the prompts to begin the recovery procedure. Once the process completes, Windows is reset.

Windows 8

Follow these instructions to erase and reinstall Windows 8.

  1. Printing the Windows key+C to open the Charms card.
  2. Select the Search option and type reinstall in the Search text field (do not printing Enter).
  3. Select the Settings choice.
  4. On the left side of the screen, select Remove everything and reinstall Windows.
  5. On the Reset your PC screen, click Next.
  6. On the Do yous want to fully clean your drive screen, select But remove my files to do a quick deletion or select Fully make clean the drive to have all files erased.
  7. On the Gear up to reset your PC screen, click Reset.

Your files or all files on the hard drive are removed, depending on the choice you selected in step half dozen, and then Windows 8 is reinstalled.

Windows vii and Vista

To restore a Windows 7 or Vista computer, you must accept a prepare of restore discs for the computer or an original Windows 7 or Vista installation disc. If you do not have a set of restore discs, contact the computer manufacturer to order a new set or restore discs.

Annotation

Before following the steps below, make certain the calculator is ready to boot from the CD-ROM drive.

  • How to kicking from a CD or DVD in a computer.
  1. Insert the Windows 7 or Vista installation CD in the CD-ROM drive and restart the computer.
  2. When you see the message "Press any key to boot from CD," press a key on the keyboard.
  3. Press Enter at the Windows Setup welcome screen.
  4. When prompted, press whatsoever primal on your keyboard.
  5. On the Install Windows screen, select your preferred language and other preferences, then click Adjacent.
  6. On the License Agreement screen, take the terms and agreements, and so click Next.
  7. On the Installation Type screen, choose the Custom choice.
  8. Select the Drive Options (advanced) selection.
  9. For Disk 0, delete all partitions. When all partitions are deleted, a single entry named "Unallocated space" should exist seen.
  10. Click Disk 0 and select Next.

The Windows installation procedure starts past creating a new segmentation, formatting the partition, and installing Windows on the difficult drive. The formatting process erases the hard drive earlier installing Windows.

Windows XP and 2000

To restore a Windows XP or 2000 calculator, you must accept a set of restore discs for the computer or an original Windows XP or 2000 installation disc. If y'all practice not have a prepare of restore discs, contact the computer manufacturer to order a new prepare or restore discs.

Note

Before following the steps beneath, make sure the computer is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive.

  • How to kicking from a CD or DVD in a computer.
  1. Insert the Windows XP/2000 installation CD in the CD-ROM bulldoze and restart the computer.
  2. When you see the message "Press any fundamental to kick from CD," printing a key on the keyboard.
  3. Printing the Enter fundamental at the Windows XP Setup welcome screen, then press F8 to accept the Terms and Agreements.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to select a hard drive partition to format and install Windows XP.
  5. Afterwards formatting the hard drive, which erases all data, run across our steps for reinstalling Windows.
  • How to install the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Earlier versions of Windows and DOS

Follow these instructions to erase and reinstall MS-DOS 5.0+, Windows 3.10, 95, 98, ME, or NT iv.0.

Formatting the bulldoze

  1. Place the bootable diskette or disc inside the calculator and reboot to get to the DOS prompt. In some cases, you may need to boot the figurer with CD-ROM support or printing a fundamental to kick from the disk.
  2. At the MS-DOS prompt, type format c: /southward and printing Enter.

Notation

If the "format c: /southward" command does non work, you lot may need to download the format.com file to your boot disk.

  1. The computer asks "Are you sure you desire to erase everything on drive c:?" If you lot are ok with doing this, enter "Y" for aye and press Enter.
  2. The figurer begins the formatting process. While the computer is formatting, make certain no errors are encountered.
  • I'm getting bad sectors, clusters, or missing allocations.
  1. Once the format process is completed successfully, at the MS-DOS prompt, type fdisk /mbr and press Enter. Later entering this command, it should return you to the MS-DOS prompt with no bulletin. This step is not required, just recommended.
  • Do you have additional information on fdisk /mbr?
  1. In one case back at the MS-DOS prompt, reboot the reckoner with the boot disk still inserted and follow the steps beneath to reinstall Windows on the hard drive.

Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT can be installed in dissimilar ways. Nosotros recommend Windows NT be installed using the steps beneath as we experience that these steps by far are the easiest way to install Windows NT 4.0.

Get-go, we recommend all users wanting to install Windows NT utilise the /b switch, which allows the users to not need to create the diskettes. We do, still, recommend the user create the emergency recover diskettes if they have not already been created later on the installation of Windows NT.

Finally, before the installation of Windows NT, nosotros recommend you run smartdrv, which helps the installation of Windows NT run a lot faster.

  1. Place the CD into the computer.
  2. Blazon X: (where X is the CD-ROM drive, often the D:).
  3. Once at the advisable bulldoze, blazon cd winnt and press Enter to get to the Windows 95 directory.
  4. Once at the 10:\WINNT> prompt, blazon winnt /b.
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions to consummate the installation.

Windows 95 with a backup CD

  1. Identify the CD in the computer.
  2. Type 10: (where X is the CD-ROM drive, often the D:).
  3. Once at the appropriate bulldoze, type cd win95 and press Enter to become to the Windows 95 directory.
  4. Once at the Ten:\WIN95> prompt, type setup to begin the installation.
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

If you are encountering bug during the setup process, yous can add together additional switches to the setup command line. These switches are on our Windows 95 setup switches page.

Windows 95 with floppy diskettes

  1. Place the get-go diskette of Windows 95 in the estimator.
  2. At the A:\> prompt, type setup and press Enter to begin the installation.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Windows 3.ten

  1. Place the beginning diskette of Windows 3.x in the computer.
  2. At the A:\> prompt, type setup and press Enter to begin the installation.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

MS-DOS

  1. Identify the first MS-DOS diskette into the estimator.
  2. At the A:\> prompt, type setup and press Enter to being the installation.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.