Erasing Computer Completely Clean

Cervetus

What's it called when you wipe a hard drive, and how do I do it so I can start from scratch? If it matters at all, my copy of Windows is OEM.

DrFrylock

It's called reformatting, regardless of where you got your version of Windows.

The entire Windows NT line, at least since 4.0 and possibly before (this includes Windows 2000, XP, and Vista) has an option to partition and format hard drives during the install process. This, of course, assumes you're doing an ordinary Windows install. Some manufacturers ship a "restore CD (or DVD)" that has an image of your hard drive's original factory contents on it. This overwrites your hard drive with a byte-for-byte image of how it was originally configured. The procedure for reimaging like this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Generally, you boot off the recovery {C|DV}D and then it will walk you through a reimaging procedure.

LaCabra

Just boot from your Windows CD/DVD, and tell it to format when it installs. Pretty straightforward stuff.

Katana-sr

And you can even safely use the "quick format" option, it will still erase everything and you only have to wait a couple of minutes.

LaCabra

Yeah, quick format is the best format.

Cervetus

Thanks everyone! I can't believe I forgot "format."

Anyway, I can't find my Windows key, so I'm going to tear my room apart but I'm probably screwed.

tsmvengy

If you do a google search you can find your windows key within the registry of your computer (assuming you haven't formatted it yet.) There are also several free programs that can recover it for you.

LaCabra

Magical Jelly Bean keyfinder is the best.

Cervetus

Thanks for all the help guys! Everything seems to be going great right now. And yeah, Magical Jellybean is the one I ended up using.

I would pay if forward by sticking around and helping people, but I'm too stupid to help anyone so I'll just go away quietly.