How do I wipe Computer Clean

I

IrishGunner

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well somehow the registry is fubared and I have to wipe my pc and re-install
!!!

Going to back up the files onto an external hard drive or burn onto cd-rw

Running XP pro

Whats the best way of clearing everything
 
Once you've backed up the files that you need just install from your original Windows installation media and select the options to repartition and/or reformat the drive(s) when asked. There is no need to separately "wipe" the disk unless you are giving it away and are concerned about sensitive information that may be recoverable. Before you reinstall are you sure that there's no possibility of recovering the existing installation?
 
Are you sure you need to wipe and reinstall? If you are able to get into Windows say in safe mode then you could try System restore to roll back to an earlier stable configutation.
 
I got a wireless router and PC kept on blue screening & rebooting with the network card

previous to that my registry got buggered up me thinks to spyware

Bought my pc & network card in Marx computers and they tried everything even system restore
but no joy

They tried it on another pc they had and the card worked ok

So my option now is to wipe to get my registry back

My just buy an external hard drive from them and put everything on that
 
If you really want to wipe everything from your HDD you could try BCWipe. But as ClubMan has said, unless there's something really sensitive that you want to erase irretrievably, a full format and reinstallation of your OS will 'wipe' the HDD for all practical intents and purposes...
 
IrishGunner said:
So my option now is to wipe to get my registry back
Click to expand...
I don't understand this. If you wipe/reinstall the machine then you will not get your registry back - you will get a new registry!
 
If you have something 'naughty' on it, you could always try 'EVIDENCE ELIMINATOR, a program that is supposed to wipe everything that you have looked at on the internet and leave the machine as clean as the day it arrived in your place in a cardboard box!
 
Evidence Eliminator costs $150 as far as I know. There are similar tools available for free that securely and permanently erase data. For example [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] are just two.
 
Wiping it was the only option me thought as I tried everything else

With Eraser or eMaxx does this clear everything ? So I will still need to make a back up of files & folders ?

Its not that I want the registry back a new one will do anything at this stage is a bonus. I can still get on the net using a BB modem but I want to go wireless and thats where the problam lies

Did all the Norton and MS spyware and nothing came up. Also got registry cleaner 2006 but registry still seems to be all over the place

If there are other options I am open to recommendations

Thanks
 
what makes you think the registry is caffufled? Are there any error messages that you can post here?
 
Well something happened with my PC God knows and I could not open exe files & also the Lnk files on desktop did not work. Then finally got regedit to run after running in safe mode and did system restore and exported new reg into directory, without making back up DOH.
Then got registry cleaner 2006 and it cleaned up or did it and my desktop lnk files where restored or so me thought
Bought the wireless router and network card and no joy kept getting the blue screen. Left the PC into Marx, where I bought both the pc and card. They tried it and card would not work. They tried it on another PC and it worked ok. They also tried a roll back but it still would not work and they kept getting the blue screen and the system kept on re-booting. Looks like something has embedded into the registry causing this correct me If I am wrong ???

This is the reason I want to get a clean registry and install the programs I have one by one and thread carfully

If anyone has any other advise please let me know
 
If you are going to reinstall the PC and reuse it yourself then you don't need to use a separate erase utility. Just choose the repartition/reformat options during reinstall. You only need to use a separate erase tool if you are passing the PC on to somebody else and are concerned about sensitive data being recovered and falling into the wrong hands. If you were really concerned about this then a permanent solution would be to remove the hard disk and physically destroy it. Of course this might only be merited in very secure environments.
 
ClubMan said:
If you are going to reinstall the PC and reuse it yourself then you don't need to use a separate erase utility. Just choose the repartition/reformat options during reinstall. [.
Click to expand...

So how do I do this ? Do you mean when I re-install windows ?

So when I insert the windows cd it gives me this option when I go to install ?

Cheers
 
IrishGunner said:
So when I insert the windows cd it gives me this option when I go to install ?
Click to expand...
What option? Does it not present a setup wizard that guides you through the installation process?
 
ClubMan said:
What option? Does it not present a setup wizard that guides you through the installation process?
Click to expand...

No it comes up with install etc windows box no wizard when I put the windows cd in

So when you say Just choose the repartition/reformat options during reinstall

How do I do this and should I back up files first ?

Ta
 
IrishGunner said:
No it comes up with install etc windows box no wizard when I put the windows cd in
Click to expand...
What do you mean "install etc. windows box"?! Please post the precise messages that it comes up with.

So when you say Just choose the repartition/reformat options during reinstall

How do I do this and should I back up files first ?
Click to expand...
Yes - backup before reinstalling/reformatting/repartitioning as this will effectively erase everything.

No offence but it sounds like you need assistance with this from somebody with more technical expertise.
 
Not at home so cannot put up what comes up
I insert the windows xp disc and it autoruns thats what I am talking about

But what am I reinstalling/reformatting/repartitioning windows itself ?
So I back up my files etc first then I want to do the above and then re-install all my programs
 
Once again - you backup your files before you reinstall/repartition/reformat. Once you reinstall/repartition/reformat everything will be gone and the Windows install program will go on to create a new Windows installation on your hard disk. After that you will need the original installation media/packages for each application that you use in order to reinstall these. After that you will need to restore your backed up user files. At that stage you will have a brand new Windows installation, newly installed applications and your restored user files. There are lots of guides to reinstalling Windows . If you still have any doubts about any of this you should consider getting assistance and perhaps pay somebody to take care of it for you.
 
did a back up of the files and then rebooted with the windows xp disc in

Clicked on install windows xp so I could re-install and it came up with
Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer is newer than the version on the CD.

Warning: If you decide to delete the newer version of Windows that is currently installed on your computer, the files and settings cannot be recovered

So how can I wipe it and then reinstall cheers
 
If you know that you can safely erase the existing disk contents then download one of the (free) eraser tools mentioned above and use that to erase the disk. Then when you boot off the XP installation CD it should allow you to install as if it was a new PC. If you are not 100% sure that this is an appropriate step for you to take and that you will be able to reinstall then you should seek help from somebody with more technical expertise.
 
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