Formatting Windows 10

[Snapzz3]

I've decided it's time to sell my rig because i have lost interest in gaming and rarely use it anymore, and since it's the Christmas season i figured it'd be easy to get rid of it. Was wondering how to completely wipe the computer. I have a 120GB SSD for the OS and a 1TB HDD for mass storage, would like to completely wipe both. I don't have the CD or the USB i installed it from, nor do i have an optical drive. Got the OS from a friend that i no longer have contact with who gave me a product key.

 

I'd like to keep Windows on the PC. All i want is to wipe everything from the drive except the OS. Not sure if i can do that or not, which is why i'm asking.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Christmas season isn't for another 9 months at least

 

Anyway, you can go to the Settings app -> Update & Security (or Update & Recovery if you're using something before build 1711) -> Recovery. You should have an option called "Reset this PC." Click on the "Get Started" button and it'll take you through a few more steps. Choose the option "Remove files and clean the drive" when you see it and it'll reformat the drives and reinstall Windows.

[Snapzz3]

19 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Christmas season isn't for another 9 months at least

 

Anyway, you can go to the Settings app -> Update & Security (or Update & Recovery if you're using something before build 1711) -> Recovery. You should have an option called "Reset this PC." Click on the "Get Started" button and it'll take you through a few more steps. Choose the option "Remove files and clean the drive" when you see it and it'll reformat the drives and reinstall Windows.

Yeah sorry, i copy pasted from another thread i made before christmas. Didn't get it sold before now. It told me to make a new thread instead of reviving the old one. 

 

Is it safe handing over the PC to someone just by doing that? I mean can they recover deleted files etc.? I'll be keeping the HDD because i've been told it's harder to completely erase files from "physical" drives.

[Mira Yurizaki]

17 minutes ago, Snapzz3 said:

Is it safe handing over the PC to someone just by doing that? I mean can they recover deleted files etc.? I'll be keeping the HDD because i've been told it's harder to completely erase files from "physical" drives.

I sell under the presumption that most people aren't going to buy your computer to snoop around for data. But if you're paranoid, you can do the reset, find a way to fill up the drive with trash data, then reset it again.

 

You could also take the drive to another PC and do a secure erase through some third party program and install Windows on that if you have the license key.

[KenjiUmino]

30 minutes ago, Snapzz3 said:

I'll be keeping the HDD because i've been told it's harder to completely erase files from "physical" drives.

that is BS - it is actually easier to wipe a drive with spinning platters by simply overwriting everything multiple times. (that is what windows does AFAIK) 

 

this does not really work with SSDs because they don't give direct control over where stuff is physically written - there are other tools to "safe erase" SSDs but that wipes everything off the drive and you'd have to install windows again

[Snapzz3]

3 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

that is BS - it is actually easier to wipe a drive with spinning platters by simply overwriting everything multiple times. (that is what windows does AFAIK) 

 

this does not really work with SSDs because they don't give direct control over where stuff is physically written - there are other tools to "safe erase" SSDs but that wipes everything off the drive and you'd have to install windows again

Paul's Hardware is where i got that from but i don't know whether it's true or not lol, seemed like a credible source

[KenjiUmino]

2 minutes ago, Snapzz3 said:

Paul's Hardware is where i got that from but i don't know whether it's true or not lol, seemed like a credible source

do you have a link to it? i wonder about the context

[Snapzz3]

4 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

do you have a link to it? i wonder about the context

 At around the 4:50 mark

[KenjiUmino]

30 minutes ago, Snapzz3 said:

 At around the 4:50 mark

hmm interesting. i agree that paul is a credible sorce. dunno where he got that from.

 

i know people are erasing harddrives using the overwrite method pretty much ever since - even professional recycling companies do this when they refurbish (and resell) all the dell and HP office machines from companies that potentialy have precious trade secrets on them and whatnot. 

the only real downside is that it takes longer and longer the more secure you want to erase it (because the tool has to physicaly overwrite the drive more often if you want it more secure) while it is way faster to secure erase a SSD. 

[Snapzz3]

On 20.2.2018 at 9:09 PM, M.Yurizaki said:

I sell under the presumption that most people aren't going to buy your computer to snoop around for data. But if you're paranoid, you can do the reset, find a way to fill up the drive with trash data, then reset it again.

 

You could also take the drive to another PC and do a secure erase through some third party program and install Windows on that if you have the license key.

Yeah that's probably true but i'd rather try to be safe than sorry, you never know.