How to Wipe a Computer and How to Delete Everything on Windows 7/10
"I just bought a used Windows 7 computer from a yard sale. It has a bunch of stuff on it, which I don't need or would use. How to delete everything on Windows 7 to start from scratch? Or how can I wipe the computer and restore it to a factory-fresh state?"
When you buy a second-hand computer with data, decide to sell/give your computer to others, or your computer is full of trashes and becomes slow, you may want to delete everything off the computer on Windows 7/8/10.
To wipe a computer in Windows 7 or Windows 10, you can restore to factory settings, which allows you to keep the system but erase all personal data. If you'd like to delete everything on Windows 7 without CD, including the Windows system and data, you can make it in the way below.
- Warning
- Wiping and factory resetting will erase all the data on your computer, which means unrecoverable. Back up and save all important documents and files to an external disk, flash drive, or cloud storage system.
How to Wipe a Computer Windows 7 Without CD, Including Windows System & Personal Data
How to delete everything on Windows 7 without CD, including the Windows operating system and personal files? Although Windows doesn't provide a feature for wiping data, you can erase all Windows laptop and PC data with a third-party tool, like Qiling Partition Master.
Qiling Partition Master is a comprehensive program that deletes all the data from a Windows OS computer with its "Wipe Data" function. You can wipe your system drives and other partitions with a WinPE bootable USB, letting your computer leave nothing behind and never recoverable.
Download this data wiping tool and learn how to delete everything on Windows 7 with a step-by-step guide.
1. Create a WinPE Bootable Disk
Step 1. To create a bootable disk of Qiling Partition Master, you should prepare a storage media, like a USB drive, flash drive or a CD/DVD disc. Then, correctly connect the drive to your computer.
Step 2. Launch Qiling Partition Master, find the "Create bootable media" feature on the tools page. Click on it.
Step 3. When the process finishes, you have successfully created an Qiling Partition Master WinPE bootable disk. Now, you can manage your hard disks and partitions through the bootable drive whenever the computer fails to boot normally. If you have RAID drives, load the RAID driver first by clicking Add Driver from the menu bar, which can help you add the driver of your device under WinPE environment, as some specific device cannot be recognized under WinPE environment without drivers installed, such as RAID or some specific hard disk. After successfully creating the bootable disk, you can boot the computer, press Del to enter DOIS, and set "USB Boot Device" as the first boot device. Then, you can use Qiling Partition Master to erase your computer, including the system and data drives.
We've set two options for you to wipe data. Choose the one you need. Option 1. Wipe Partition Option 2. Wipe Disk2. Wipe Windows 7 Computer to Delete Everything
Reinstall Windows 7 or Windows 10 for Reuse
After completely wiping your Windows 7 computer, you can reinstall the system for reuse.
To install Windows 7: Download Windows 7 Disc Images (ISO Files) and follow the instructs to complete the task.
To install Windows 10: Download the media creation tool from Microsoft and finish the clean installation.
Qiling Backup enables users to create and restore system image to a different computer to migrate OS without reinstalling. Check details if you are interested.
How to Delete Everything on Windows 7/8/10 by Restoring to Factory Settings
If you want to keep the clean Windows system on your computer as when you bought it, but need to wipe user accounts, personal files, customized settings, programs, and data to make it unrecoverable for privacy reasons, you can do it by restoring to factory settings.
The ways to factory reset vary on different systems, read the following content, and learn how to delete everything on Windows 7 or Windows 10 with or without installation CD/DVD.
How to Restore Windows 7 to Factory Settings
To delete everything on Windows 7 and reset your computer to the factory state, you have to use an original Windows 7 installation media or recovery disk. If you don't have the disc, you will need to contact the computer manufacturer to order a new restore disc or skip to see how to delete everything on windows 7 without a CD.
- Notice:
- Some computer factory settings will erase entire disk data, while others only restore the system and retain data saved other partitions. If it is the latter, you need to use a data eraser tool to delete all the data after the factory defaults completely.
Restore Windows 7 with Installation CD/DVD
Step 1. Insert the Windows 7 installation CD in the CD-ROM drive and restart the computer.
Step 2. Press F8 repeatedly to open the Advanced Boot Options menu. At the Advanced Boot Options screen, choose "Repair Your Computer" and press Enter. This opens the System Recovery Options menu.
Step 3. Choose System Restore or Startup Repair (if this is available).
Step 4. Follow the on-screen instructions to continue with any operation.
Restore Windows 7 to factory settings without CD
If no install CD or DVD is available, you can boot into Safe Mode and run System Restore with Command Prompt.
Step 1. Turn on the computer. Press and hold the F8 key.
Step 2. Choose "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" at the Advanced Boot Options screen and press Enter.
Step 3. Log in as Administrator.
Step 4. When Command Prompt appears, type rstrui.exe and press Enter.
Step 5. Follow the wizard instructions to finish System Restore on Windows 7.
How to Reset Windows 8/8.1 to Factory Settings to Delete Everything
Windows 8 can be restored to factory settings by either performing a "refresh" of your PC (without removing your files) or by performing a "reset" (this deletes personal files from your computer).
Step 1. Go to "Settings". Click "Change PC settings" > "General" > "Remove everything and reinstall Windows" > "Get started". If your operating system is "Windows 8.1", click "Update and recovery" > "Remove everything and reinstall Windows".
Step 2. Click "Next". Note: All your personal files, settings, and apps will be removed.
Step 3. Select the drives from which you want to remove files. Here, you can select your system drive.
Step 4. Choose "Just remove my files" or "Fully clean the drive". Click "Reset" to reset your PC.
How to Reset Windows 10 to Factory Settings to Delete Everything
Resetting Windows 10 can delete everything on your Windows 10, including personal data.
Step 1. Go to "Settings". Select "Update & security" > "Recovery" in the left pane > "Get started" under "Reset this PC".
Step 2. Click "Keep my files" or "Remove everything". Here, to restore a clean Windows, choose "Remove everything".
Step 3. Select "Just remove my files" or "Remove files and clean the drive". Cleaning the drive takes a lot longer. If you are giving the computer away, choose the latter one; while keeping the computer, choose the first one.
Step 4. Click "Next" > "Reset" > Continue when prompted. Windows will then restart and take several minutes to reset.
To Sum Up
To delete everything on Windows 7 or Windows 8/10, you have two ways to do it:
Way 1. Use Qiling Partition Master Bootable USB to wipe the whole disk without CD, including the Windows and personal files. With this program, you can simply wipe your computer entirely with a few clicks.
Way 2. Restore Windows 7 to factory settings to its original configuration as it first was when it was purchased. This solution is a bit more complicated. Restoring factory settings often doesn't erase your data thoroughly; you still have to use a data wiping tool to delete everything on Windows 7/8/10.
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