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Not formatting.

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by orion92

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How do I clean out all installed software in an OS(Win 98,2000, and XP) w/o formatting the HD. I know you can go to control panel and remove apps but sometimes there are still files laying around such as pictures, files, musics,etc.... Appreciate it.

TIA.

11 replies

by orion92

Thanks for the info. The cleansweep is what I used and it did do some but not all.

by w2ktechman

I have found it is better to wipe and reload completely, as some things will stay behind and you never know what. You may encounter strange problems, or worse, bring a virus over to the new system. I use a complete drive scrubber, then I rebuild from scratch about 98% of the time when a rebuild is needed.

by orion92

Yeah, I agree to that as well. But it wasn't for me and was not something to do with work. Thanks.

by orion92

Thanks for the responses. Will let you all know my opinions of how they turned out soon. Appreciate it.

by hal 9000

One thing to remember while the above suggestions will remove everything except Windows the removed data will be recoverable. If these are end of Life units from a business that can be devastating as all the data can be recovered easily and quickly with shareware. Even things like On Line Banking will be available to who ever may try this so you have to be sure where these units are going to end up as I've had to appear several times in Court about who actually owns the data on a sold computer. Currently in AU the Law says that the buyer owns the data even if they use it for criminal purposes it's theirs to do with as they like.

Col

by hal 9000

Also if these are Trade Ins you have an obligation to your customers to protect their data as you can be held responsible for any loss if things go wrong.

It's far cheaper to just install a new HDD and provide a copy of Linux than to have to appear in court for not acting professionally.

If all you are attempting to do is retain the Windows OS and you are working for/as a charity you can get permission from MS to load Windows onto these computers. But if you sell them loaded with Windows and without a copy of the Install CD you are in breach of MS EULA.

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