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#11
No Windows 10 is different. Use this guide: Reset Windows 10
Make sure you have a backup of you data then use this option when performing the reset: Remove everything
That will wipe out all data and reinstall Windows. In my experience that is usually enough for a average user to minimize data from being recovered.
Do NOT rely on this process if you are a political activist / dissident or someone who's life would be on the line if the data could be recovered. In this case you need to use a usb tool that securely erases data with a 3-pass gutmann method, or better and then if you want the device to have an operating system use a Windows 10 installation on USB media to reinstall to make sure personal information can not be recovered.
Last edited by trinsic; 11 Sep 2021 at 07:21.
Once again, I'm not aware of the Windows installation tool WIPING the data. All it does is a reformat -- and all that does is ERASE the data.
While this is OK if all you want to do is do a clean install on your own device, when someone want to sell their device, they need to actually WIPE the data -- to ensure the new owner can't run some data recovery utility and get their sensitive data.
Please stop saying Wipe when that is not the case. This is misleading.
Mark is right. The easiest way to do this is to do a Windows 10 reset using that guide that was linked and then use a tool to wipe the free space. CCleaner could be installed after the reset and then use the wipe feature.
Hi,
Not much different audit mode is on win-10 to if you have pro
Might want to just get a new ssd or hdd for your friend and keep the original seems the only sure way.
Ok on CCleaner, I'm familiar with that, thanks so much
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Can't thank you enough for mentioning a new SSD. I put one in my laptop, and I had planned, at the time, to get another SSD for my PC. I've never changed out a hard-drive on a PC but that's another topic