How to Format a Computer

How to Format a Computer with Windows 7

Warning - Formatting hard drive information does not permanently erase the data. Even after a computer has been formatted, deleted files can be easily recovered. If you want to permanently wipe your hard drive by completely overwritting hard drive data, check out WipeDrive.
To format your hard disk during Windows 7 installation, you'll need to start, or boot, your computer using the Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive.

Turn on your computer so that Windows starts normally, insert the Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive, and then shut down your computer.
Restart your computer.
Press any key when prompted, and then follow the instructions that appear.
On the "Install Windows" page, enter your language and other preferences, and then click Next.
If the "Install Windows" page doesn't appear, and you're not asked to press any key, you might need to change some system settings. To learn how to do this, see Start your computer from a Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive.
On the "Please read the license terms" page, if you accept the license terms, click I accept the license terms, and then click Next.
On the "Which type of installation do you want?" page, click Custom.
On the "Where do you want to install Windows?" page, click Drive options (advanced).
Click the partition that you want to format and click Format.
1. If you have more than one partition on this hard drive and want to get rid them to make one big drive again, then select a partition and click on the Delete option for each partition. Once you have deleted all of the partitions, select the Unallocated Space partition and click Format.
2. Pick the formatting option that you want.
3. When you've finished formatting, click Next.
Follow the instructions to finish installing Windows 7, which include naming your computer and setting up an initial user account.
If you do not want to reinstall Windows 7, you can cancel the installation at this point and keep your newly formatted drives.

How to Format a Computer with Windows XP

The first step in learning how to format a computer with Windows XP or 2000, is to insert Windows CD and restart your computer.
Your computer should automatically boot from the CD to the Windows Setup Menu.
At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.
Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC.
Use the ARROW keys to select the partition or the unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition. Press D to delete an existing partition, or press C to create a new partition.
Type the size in megabytes (MB) that you want to use for the new partition, and then press ENTER, or just press ENTER to create the partition with the maximum size.
Select the format option that you want to use for the partition (Recommended: NTFS), and then press ENTER.
After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that appear on the screen to continue installing Windows.

How to Reset Your Windows 10 PC

If your computer isn't running the way it should, you're getting strange errors or you just want to return it to its default state, Windows 10 has your answer. The operating system provides a number of options that let you restore your computer to an earlier state. Here's how to reset your PC in Windows 10.

Navigate to Settings. You can get there by clicking the gear icon on the Start menu.
Select "Update & security"
Click Recovery in the left pane.
Windows presents you with three major options: Reset this PC, Go back to an earlier build and Advanced startup. Reset this PC is the best option for starting fresh. Advanced startup lets you boot off a recovery USB drive or disc and "Go to an earlier build" is made for Windows Insiders who want to roll back to a previous version of the OS.
Click Get started under Reset this PC.
Click either "Keep my files" or "Remove everything," depending on whether you want to keep your data files intact. Either way, all of your settings will return to their defaults and apps will be uninstalled.
Select "Just remove my files" or "Remove files and clean the drive" if you chose to "remove everything" in the prior step. Cleaning the drive takes a lot longer but will make sure that, if you are giving the computer away, the next person will have a hard time recovering your erased files. If you are keeping the computer, choose "Just remove my files."
Click Next if Windows warns you that you won't be able to roll back to a prior version of the OS.
Click Reset when prompted.
Windows will then restart and take several minutes to reset itself.
Click Continue when prompted.