wiping out data without removing Win 10

dudley · 25 Oct 2015

I want to prepare my desktop before selling it and wipe all personal data. I am aware of tools like DBAN which would wipe out the entire disk including Win 10. I would prefer not to do that.

On a related note - my desktop is HP - came with Windows 7 - has the disk partitioned to C: and Recovery Image D:. If I do wipe out the entire C: drive, how exactly will I be able to recover Win 7 from D: ? It won't boot, right?

I realize this question is not Windows 10 specific but I love this forum. Thanks.

Brink · 25 Oct 2015

Hello Dudley, :)

If you like, resetting Windows 10 would accomplish wiping your personal data without removing Windows 10. During Windows Setup, you could setup a local account without a password for the new owner to use until they setup their own account.

Reset Windows 10

dudley · 25 Oct 2015

Hello Brink and thank you for your answer,

I really do not want to sound paranoid but just resetting Win 10 would not overwrite the entire disk, right? What I mean is that I understand my current files would not be visible to a regular person but they would be recoverable (or at least some of them) with special software if someone really tried.

Cbarnhorst · 25 Oct 2015

dudley said:

I want to prepare my desktop before selling it and wipe all personal data. I am aware of tools like DBAN which would wipe out the entire disk including Win 10. I would prefer not to do that.

On a related note - my desktop is HP - came with Windows 7 - has the disk partitioned to C: and Recovery Image D:. If I do wipe out the entire C: drive, how exactly will I be able to recover Win 7 from D: ? It won't boot, right?

I realize this question is not Windows 10 specific but I love this forum. Thanks.

The Recovery Partition requires a utility in C:\ to start the recovery to 7. That is what is wiped out when you upgrade to a newer OS. You would need to contact HP for a download of the utility before the Recovery Partition would be usable again.

Brink · 25 Oct 2015

dudley said:

Hello Brink and thank you for your answer,

I really do not want to sound paranoid but just resetting Win 10 would not overwrite the entire disk, right? What I mean is that I understand my current files would not be visible to a regular person but they would be recoverable (or at least some of them) with special software if someone really tried.

It won't do a secure erase of the drive, but the data will pretty much be unrecoverable by the average Joe.

Otherwise, you'll need to do a full clean install instead.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1...n-install.html

DustSailor · 25 Oct 2015

Brink said:

It won't do a secure erase of the drive, but the data will pretty much be unrecoverable by the average Joe.

Otherwise, you'll need to do a full clean install instead.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1...n-install.html

And you can do that without having to worry about Windows activation (since it has already been activated). You'll read that in the tutorial, but thought I'd add to what Sean said and post it here too.