[Tech] Formatting - a very noob question

[Belegon]

Ok so PC building im good at, but i want to Format my old PC,

I have the operating system disc, from what i gather, i can put the disc in, boot from it and choose to format and re-install.
Now, will that remove everything from my hard disc and just restart as a fresh PC with just windows on it - or will it install Windows fresh, keeping all the rest of the stuff intact.

I'm pretty sure its the former - but i don't want to flog my PC with easy to get remnents of my old passwords etc.

Just need a bit of clarification to set my mind at ease

 

[thatbloke]

easiest thing to do is tell it to remove the existing partition(s) and then have it use all available space after. Previous data will still be recoverable but it won't be "there" waiting for you when you boot into your new install...

 

[Ronin Storm]

(A simplified version of the truth below.)

Imagine that all data on your computer is made up of 1's and 0's. These are saved, in the correct order, on your hard drive as that. Through a cunning map, your hard drive knows where all that data is stored and can get it back to you.

Formatting, in essence, makes all the data 0.

Doing as bloke suggests just removes the map but leaves the 1's and 0's as they were.

If you're giving your machine to someone else, I recommend formatting so they can't (easily) get your data.

 

[Wol]

But don't use a quick format, as that wont write over every byte on your hard drive iirc. Or if it does, its chuffingly fast

 

[thatbloke]

Quick Format doesn't - it just kills the filesystem.

 

[Belegon]

Thanks folks, im on too it as of tommorow, new PC is all built