How can I completely wipe a computer leaving only Windows and Office?

Question

Should I just reformat the hard drive and then reinstall Windows XP and MS Office?

I just got a new computer and I want to delete everything off the old one, whilst keeping it available as a usable computer.

Answer 1

If you want to get rid of "any thing" that was on the computer before, you will want to fdisk and format the computer and then install XP and MS Office.

If you do not have the disks to do this, it will be very difficult.

Answer 2

Hi

The best way is to install windows from the windows environment. It will give you the choice of creating a new directory or overwrite the old one. If you overwrite, you will not lose any of your data but will have to re-install Office. But all your data will be available.

What happens when you install from a windows environment is that it is useful if you cannot get rid of a virus and your data is important and you want to save it.

Once windows is installed, it creates a fresh registry and your computer should be running quite fast now.