- Wipe Hard Drive Without Removing Operating System Systems
- How To Completely Wipe Drive
- How To Wipe A Hard Drive
While there's nothing to stop you selling your PC with the contents of its hard drive intact, it's a very bad idea. Apart from the fact that you'll be giving the new owner access to all of your files and other personal information, you'll also be selling any software that's still installed. Even if this was legal (which it usually isn't), that means you won't be able to install the same software on your new PC — not without breaking the law, anyway.
So the solution is to wipe your PC and restore it to a factory fresh state, with nothing but the Windows operating system installed. This, incidentally, is something you might also want to do when you want to reinstall Windows from scratch to give your computer a new lease of life — getting rid of years' worth of old stuff can work wonders. This process has changed a bit with the arrival of Windows 10 and there are two ways to do it, depending on what you want to achieve. We'll cover both.
Getting ready
Step 1: Backup your files
Using a tool like CCleaner's 'Drive Wiper', securely erase unused space on your hard disk. Merely deleting files doesn't overwrite the data, so it could still be recovered. So, it is actually inapplicable to use these two Windows snap-in tools to wipe a hard drive without removing Windows if the data partition and the system partition are on the same hard disk. Naturally, these two assumptions are invalid. You still need a third-party tool - MiniTool Partition Wizard - to help you. Part 6: Bottom Line.
Windows 10 can ‘refresh' your PC without affecting your documents, but we still recommend backing them up before trying it — just in case.
When you wipe your PC, on the other hand, everything on it is lost, so you'll need to backup any files and documents you want to keep.
Before you can wipe securely your PC's hard drive, you'll need to burn a program called 'DBAN' onto a blank DVD or place it on a USB drive. You can ensure that your computer's disc drive is capable of burning by looking for the 'DVD' logo on or near the disc tray. Wipe Your Drive in Windows 8.1. In Windows 8.1, go to Settings Change PC Settings Update and recovery Recovery.Click the Get Started button under the section heading Remove everything. In many cases, it's simpler to erase all the files on the drive's active partition (C:) and then reinstall the operating system. This will remove all the data that various programs have.
The easiest way to do this is to drag the contents of your Documents folder (and any others you want to save) onto an external storage device, such as a hard drive or USB flash drive. Alternatively, you can use cloud storage such as BT Cloud. Copying to and from cloud storage will be much slower than using an external hard drive, however, so think twice before using it for more than a few gigabytes worth of files.
Step 2: Save your software serial numbers
Any installed software will also be lost when you wipe your PC (whichever method you use), so you'll need to reinstall it afterwards. So review what's currently installed, and dig out the corresponding install discs and serial numbers.
Most relatively recent software can usually be downloaded, too, but you'll still need a valid serial number or activation code to use it. If you don't have these, a free tool like Belarc Advisor will list all software installed on your PC and any corresponding serial numbers — just click Software Licences in the left of its results windows to see yours.
Step 3: Download any drivers
While Windows 10 should detect all hardware in a relatively new PC and install its own drivers, it's risky to rely on that happening. If nothing else, you should download the necessary driver for your computer's Wi-Fi or network adapter, then at least you'll be able to get online afterwards to download any other drivers you might need.
You'll need to refer to your computer's manual or its manufacturer's web site to see which driver you need — and best sure to save it on a removable drive, not the hard drive you're about to wipe.
Option 1: Reset this PC
Windows 10 has a built-in method for wiping your PC and restoring it to an ‘as new' state. You can choose to preserve just your personal files or to erase everything, depending on what you need.
Go to Start > Settings > Update & security > Recovery, click Get started and select the appropriate option. Then follow the on-screen instructions to restore Windows 10 to a factory fresh state.
Option 2: Securely format the PC
If you're selling or giving your PC to someone else, it's a good idea to securely erase the hard drive before reinstalling Windows 10 to prevent any old data from being recovered. This is rather more involved than Option 1 and the exact steps to reinstall Windows afterwards depend on how Windows 10 was supplied.
If you don't have a Windows 10 install disc of some sort, you'll need to follow Steps 1 to 6 of our How to perform a clean installation of Windows 10 guide, but don't go any further than Step 6 for now.
1. Download DBAN
Whatever these case, once you have a Windows 10 install disc, you'll then need to download the free DBAN (Darik Boot And Nuke) tool and burn it to a CD.
2. Boot your PC with the DBAN disc
Boot your PC using the DBAN disc and press the [Enter] key to continue from the first menu screen.
When the main DBAN screen appears, use the [J] and [K] keys to highlight the hard drive partition you want to erase (if there's more than one) and select it by pressing the [Space bar].
3. Securely erase your hard drive
Then, when you're ready to proceed, press the [F10] key to begin the secure erase. This will take some time and the process cannot be interrupted.
4. Reinstall Windows 10
When the secure erase has finished and you see a ‘Blancco' ad, eject the DBAN disc and reset your PC. You can now reinstall Windows 10 by following Steps 7 to 11 in our guide.
Need to know how to wipe a hard drive without deleting Windows? Have you been Googling 'how to wipe everything off a hard drive except the OS' or 'how do I wipe a hard drive without removing operating system?' Look no further, because you've found the solution to the above queries, and even how to delete data off SSD without erasing Windows. Read on!
There are a few ways of how to wipe a hard drive without deleting Windows. However, these are obviously delicate methods as you want to preserve the operating system.
When you wipe a hard drive, the main intent is to ensure no one can recover the erased files in any format. Sometimes you want to preserve Windows, especially if you're giving away the computer. But using the typical hard drive data wiping methods and keeping Windows intact is a difficult feat for most average computer users.
The good news is that there are proven ways to securely wipe a hard drive while preserving the operating system. Keep in mind that wiping a hard drive isn't just about deleting files on it. The files have to be removed securely to ensure they're unrecoverable.
Why Wipe a Hard Drive Securely
You could reinstall Windows or reinstate a recovery partition but this does not guarantee that someone cannot retrieve the data on the hard drive.
As you probably know, the built-in delete function in Windows does not remove the 'deleted' file instantly. Instead, Windows simply removes that file's entry from its index (Windows maintains an index of all files on the system for faster file access). The actual file (or its contents) remains intact on the hard drive. You just won't be able to access the file directly via Windows Explorer.
With this background, it's clear to see why securely wiping a hard drive before disposing of it is a must. It is the only way to guarantee that no trace of your confidential data can be found on the hard drive.
How To Wipe A Hard Drive Without Deleting Windows
Supposing you're retiring an old PC but don't want to physically destroy it. You want to end up with a machine with all your personal data wiped off but with Windows fully operational. In other words, you need to know how to wipe a hard drive without deleting Windows. There are several ways to achieve this, including the following.
Refresh, Reset, or Restore
Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 offers built-in utilities (in slightly tweaked flavors depending on version) for refreshing, resetting, or restoring the operating system. Each of these methods best suits a specific scenario and, thus, each method affects your files differently.
Refreshing reinstalls Windows but preserves all your files and settings, so this method does not apply to our current need of wiping the hard drive.
Restoring the PC simply reverses recent system changes, so this method too is far off from what we want.
Resetting deletes all files and reinstalls Windows, so this method is closest to what we want. Resetting is basically the fastest way to delete files from the hard drive while preserving Windows.
Manual Deletion
This is both bizarre and tedious but it somewhat works. You can manually delete all files from a hard drive as the operating system will remain unaffected in any way.
That said, this is probably the least secure and most risky to find out how to wipe a hard drive without deleting Windows and should be avoided.
Wipe Hard Drive Without Removing Operating System Systems
Format the Hard Drive
Formatting a hard drive to remove everything is best done from a secondary bootable device, such as a system repair disc. This is particularly the case when you want to format the C partition that holds Windows.
Use DBAN and Reinstall Windows
A utility such as DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) offers an acceptable level of hard drive wiping – albeit not 100 percent secure. However, this method is not how to wipe a hard drive without deleting Windows, as it also deletes your Windows installation plus any recovery partitions. You'd need to reinstall Windows again after wiping the hard drive.
How To Completely Wipe Drive
When all is said and done, it's worth noting that you cannot wipe everything off a hard drive except the OS in a single operation. The methods highlighted here offer the next best thing to preserving the OS while removing everything on the hard drive or wiping the drive completely and starting again with a fresh install of Windows. They are not secure ways of wiping a hard drive while leaving the OS intact.
How To Wipe A Hard Drive
This process is definitely best handled by qualified and experienced professionals. Data Destruction Corporation has a team of qualified computer professionals to help you. Contact us today to find out more.
References
How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC
How to Wipe Everything Off a Hard Drive Except the OS