[yellowmama]

hi. i was wondering if you knew of a way to totally remove all data from my problem/virus-ridden pc??? i plan to donate this dinosaur of a pc to an organization and would like to have all my personal info erased. some time ago i heard that one can retrieve credit card numbers, ss numbers, etc. that may have been typed in while online and it was suggested that all that info be cleaned out before "passing on" a computer...i appreciate any help/suggestions you can supply. thank you!

[Advertisements]

Hi
welcome to geekstogo
if your looking to make sure all data is gone the best way is to lowlevel format the harddrive then fdisk and reformat then reinstall OS if that is what your looking to do? if this is what your looking to do repost and we can gave you links and step by step on how to do.

[tazz1964]

Hi
welcome to geekstogo
if your looking to make sure all data is gone the best way is to lowlevel format the harddrive then fdisk and reformat then reinstall OS if that is what your looking to do? if this is what your looking to do repost and we can gave you links and step by step on how to do.

[yellowmama]

yes, this is what i am looking to do! step by step inst. would be great as i am semi-computer-illiterate...i have win 95 and hope that dell has that download...would i then be able to reinstall win 95 or win 98 afterwards? thank you for your help and response! i appreciate it.

[tazz1964]

Hi
you can restall 95 or 98 if you have a cd for them what you going to need to do this is a win 95 or 98 cd and product code. a bootdisk and a lowlevel formatter.
here is a lowlevel formatter that I have found works with almost any brand harddrive Powermax 4.09 (read page on how to make floppy)
you can download a boot disk here Bootdisk
Its going to take me a little while to tpye up the step bystep will post back soon with it.

[tazz1964]

STEP BY STEP CLEAN LOWLEVEL FORMAT
1) insert lowlevel formatter disk boot system
2) fellow on screen to low level format
3)after format is done insert bootdisk
4) reboot system
5) at A: tpye fdisk hit enter
6) when done reboot system with boot disk in
7)at A: type format c: hit enter
8) pick one that are set as defaut for formatting
9) after done reboot system make sure to pick start with cd support
10) watch for cd rom drive letter
11) at A: type cdrom drive letter hit enter
12) at cdrom drive letter type setup
13) windows should start to install
14) remove boot disk after install starts.

[yellowmama]

thank you for your time and response!!! i have just one more question... if i wanted to install win 98, all i have is a product recovery cd. is that the same thing? otherwise, i do have a win 95 cd... thanks again and will post to let you know how it all pans out!

[tazz1964]

hi
you can try the restore disk it may work if the codes are keep in the bios if not you will have to use the win 95.

[yellowmama]

ok, i was successful in reaching step 4, but after i rebooted the system with the boot disk in, nothing came up on the screen except

"non-system disk or disk error. replace and strike any key when ready."

what do i do now? thanks.

[tazz1964]

hi
at step 4 you need to put in a 95 or 98 boot disk if you did and you got this error then there is something wrong with the bootdisk and we will need to make a new one I'm guessing you have two systems the one your formatting and the one your going on line with you can make a boot disk off any system you have running a windows OS. if you type in help on windows startup disk it will tell you how to do it.
This is the help from windows XP
1) Insert a floppy disk into your computer's floppy drive.
2) Open My Computer, and then click the floppy disk drive to select it.
3) On the File menu, point to the name of the floppy drive, and then click Format.
4) Under Format options, click Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
Click Start.

Important:
Creating an MS-DOS startup disk erases all information on the floppy disk.