How to Erase my Hard Drive and Start Over

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Most computers provide either a system recovery disk or a built-in recovery on the hard drive to reset the computer to the original program it came in when you purchased it. Resetting or restoring a computer can help resolve computer software issues, including damaged program files and virus infections. The following are instructions on how to restore the computer to the original program.

Erasing the hard drive and reinstalling Windows

Click on a link below for instructions on how to erase the hard drive and reinstall Windows.

Windows 10

Open the Start menu.
Select the Settings option (similar to the gear).
In the Settings window, select the Update and Security option.
Select the recovery option in the left navigation pane.
Click the Start button in the Reset This Computer section.
Choose either the Keep my files option or Remove all, depending on whether you want to keep your files or delete everything and start over.
Follow the prompts to start the recovery process.
Windows will reset, either keep your files intact or erase everything, depending on the option you selected.

Windows 8

Press the Windows key in addition to the “C” key to open the magic list.
Select the search option and type Reinstall in the Search text field (do not hit Enter).
Select the Settings option.
On the right side of the screen, select Remove all and reinstall Windows.
On the Reset Your Computer screen, click Next.
In the “Do you want to clean the entire drive?” , Select Just remove my files to do a quick delete or select Clean the entire drive to scan all files.
On the “Ready to reset your computer” screen, click Reset.
The hard drive will be scanned and reinstalled.

Windows 7 and Vista

To restore a computer that is running Windows 7 or Vista, you must have a set of recovery disks for the computer or the original Windows 7 or Vista installation disc. If you do not have a set of restore disks, you will need to contact your computer manufacturer to request a new set or restore disks.

Insert the Windows 7 / Vista installation CD into your CD-ROM drive and restart the computer.
When you see the message “Press any key to boot from the CD”, press the key on the keyboard.
Press the Enter key on the Windows Setup Welcome screen.
When prompted, press any key on the keyboard.
On the Install Windows page, select your preferred language and other preferences, and then click Next.
On the License Agreement page, accept the terms and conditions and click Next.
In the Installation Type screen, select the Custom option.
Select the Drive Drive option.
For disk 0, delete all partitions. When you delete all sections, you should see one entry named “Unallocated space.”
Click Disk 0 and choose Next.
Windows installation begins by creating a new partition, formatting the partition, and installing Windows on the hard disk. Formatting will erase the hard drive before installing Windows.

Windows XP and 2000

To restore a computer that is running Windows XP or 2000, you must have a set of recovery disks for the computer or the original Windows XP or 2000 installation disk. If you do not have a set of restore disks, you will need to contact your computer manufacturer to request a new set or restore disks.

Insert the Windows XP / 2000 installation CD into your CD-ROM drive and restart your computer.
When you see the message “Press any key to boot from the CD”, press the key on the keyboard.
Press the Enter key on the Welcome screen for Windows XP Setup, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms and conditions.
Follow the instructions on the screen to select and install the hard disk partition for the Windows XP format.
After formatting the hard drive, which will erase all data, click one of the links below for steps on how to install Windows XP or Windows 2000.

MS-DOS 5.0+, Windows 3.x, 95, 98, ME, and NT 4.0

Place the floppy disk or bootable disk inside the computer and reboot to access the DOS prompt. In some cases, you may need to turn on your computer with CD-ROM support or press a key to boot from the disk.
In the MS-DOS Prompt type, format c: / s

The computer will ask you “Are you sure you want to erase everything on drive c:”
If you agree to do so, press “Y” to fine, then press Enter.
After you do this, the computer will start the formatting process. While formatting your computer, make sure there are no errors.
Once the formatting process is completed successfully, at the MS-DOS prompt, type fdisk / mbr and press Enter. After you enter this command, it must return you to an MS-DOS prompt without a message. This step is not required, but recommended.
Once you return to the MS-DOS prompt, restart the computer while still inserting the boot disk and follow the steps below if you want to reinstall Windows on the hard drive.