Summary :
- After choosing the wiping method, simply click on ' Wipe ' and the program will automatically start erasing everything from the USB flash drive. Wait for few minutes until the data are securely removed from the disk drive. Now, you can audit the USB flash drive and everything will be permanently erased.
- If you are going to erase all data from USB, you can check the box near the USB drive. But if you want to delete specific files, you can click the drive and get the list of your files in USB. Just go to select what you want to delete.
- After choosing the wiping method, simply click on ' Wipe ' and the program will automatically start erasing everything from the USB flash drive. Wait for few minutes until the data are securely removed from the disk drive. Now, you can audit the USB flash drive and everything will be permanently erased.
Nov 07, 2014 On a Mac the program of choice is Disk Utility, something supplied by Apple. Plug in the drive you want to clean up and, if you're in Yosemite, press Command-Space to launch Searchlight and type in 'disk u' As you can see, the top hit is the program you want, 'Disk Utility'.
How do I wipe my hard drive clean and reinstall Windows? This question is often asked by a large number of people. Do you want to reinstall Windows 10 without any data loss? This post of MiniTool will provide you with a step-by-step guide and some useful tips.
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Before You Do
A lot of users are troubled by many common issues such as system crash, virus attack, blue screen, black screen, faulty hard drive, a slow Windows computer, etc. Under these situations, you may need to reinstall Windows 10.
How do I wipe my hard drive clean and reinstall Windows effectively? To help you wipe and reinstall Windows 10 smoothly, please make the following preparations: How to make a family feud game board.
- Prepare a Windows 10 installation CD/DVD disc or USB drive. Click here to download the Windows 10 media creation tool. And then use the tool to create Windows 10 installation USB flash drive or CD/DVD disc.
- Back up all important files on your hard drive. There is no doubt that a clean Windows reinstallation will delete all the data on your hard drive. To avoid any data loss, make sure that you have a backup in advance.
- Remove all unnecessary peripheral devices. Here you'd better remove all peripheral devices including earphones, card reader, printers, and removable hard drive. This is because connecting these devices may lead to some errors.
Have you made all the preparations? If it is, you can follow the step-by-step guide below to erase hard drive and reinstall Windows.
How Do I Wipe My Hard Drive Clean and Reinstall Windows
How do I wipe and reinstall Windows 10? As mentioned above, there are different situations that may need you to reinstall Windows 10. Here you can refer to the following 2 cases to reinstall Windows 10. If your computer just works very slowly but still bootable, you can refer to case 1. If your Windows system fails to boot due to system crash, blue screen and damaged hard drive, please refer to case 2.
Now, let's see how to reinstall Windows 10.
Case 1: Your Windows Can Boot Normally
If your Windows 10 computer still can boot smoothly, please follow the steps below to reset your Windows PC. For that:
Step 1. Press the Win + I keys to open the Settings app, and then scroll down to the bottom of the window and click on the Update & Security option.
Step 2. In the pop-up window, navigate to the Recovery section at the left pane and click on the Get started button under the Reset this PC option at the right side of the window.
Step 3. Then you will see the 2 options whether Keep my files or Remove everything. Here you can choose one based on your needs.
Step 4. Now, follow the on-screen prompts to complete this resetting PC operation.
Case 2. Your Windows Fails to Boot
If your Windows computer fails to start or you want to erase hard drive and reinstall Windows 10, you can follow this full guide. To do so, follow the steps below carefully.
Part 1. Create a Windows 10 Installation USB Drive
Step 1. Run the Windows 10 media creation tool that you downloaded from Microsoft, and then accept the software license terms.
Step 2. Select the Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC option and click on Next.
Step 3. Then you need to select the Language, Windows Edition, and Architecture versions based on your own choice. Alternatively, you can use the recommended options for this PC. Click on Next to go on.
Step 4. In the pop-up window, choose the USB flash drive to create a Windows 10 installation media. Or you can choose the ISO file to burn it to a CD/DVD media later by yourself. And then click on Next.
Step 5. Then select your USB flash drive from the list of removable drives and click on Next to continue.
Step 6. Now, this tool will start downloading Windows 10 and all its available updates to your USB flash drive. Then you need to wait for some time. Once this process succeeds, you will receive a message saying Your USB flash drive is ready. Click on Finish to exit the window.
Now, a Windows installation USB flash drive has been created and you can use it to boot your Windows PC.
Part 2. Reinstall Windows 10 on Your PC
Let's see how to reinstall system 10 with this Windows 10 bootable USB flash drive. Here's a step-by-step guide.
Step 1. Plug the bootable USB drive into your Windows PC and then boot your computer from this drive.
Step 2. Once your computer boots from the USB drive successfully, you will enter the Windows Setup screen. Here you need to confirm the Language, Time and currency format, and Keyboard or input method to install. After that, click on Next.
Step 3. Click on the Install now button and enter the license key.
Step 4. Tick the checkbox for I accept the license terms and click on Next.
Step 5. Then you will see 2 options: Upgrade Install and Custom Install. Here we take the latter for example.
Step 6. Select a drive to install Windows 10 and click on Next.
Step 7. Now, Windows 10 will be installed automatically. You need to wait for some time.
How do I wipe my hard drive clean and reinstall Windows? I believe that you will reinstall Windows 10 smoothly according to the above full guide. However, the above method will sacrifice all the data on your hard drive.
So, how to reinstall Windows 10 without any data loss? Please keep reading.
An alternative to Wipe Hard Drive Clean and Reinstall Windows 10
To help you reinstall Windows 10 without data loss, it's highly recommended that you use MiniTool Partition Wizard. It is a powerful partition management tool that can not only be used to erase hard drive and reinstall Windows but does many things such as convert FAT to NTFS without data loss, rebuild MBR, resize partition, change cluster size, and so forth.
The following part will introduce you to how to erase hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 using MiniTool Partition Wizard respectively.
Wipe Hard Drive
In this part, we will show you how to wipe a hard drive using MiniTool Partition Wizard. The Wipe Disk feature can help you erase the unwanted data permanently. It is very simple to operate with just a few clicks.
Step 1. Install this data erasing software on your computer and run it to enter its main interface.
Step 2. How to open imovie. Select the hard drive that you want to wipe and click on the Wipe Disk feature from the left pane.
Step 3. Select a wipe method from the list and click on OK to go on.
Step 4. Click on Apply to execute this change.
Once the wiping process completes, you will find that all the data on the hard drive has been erased permanently. In addition, this tool can help you reinstall Windows 10 without losing data.
Migrate Windows 10 to a New Drive
If you want to reinstall Windows 10 without any data loss, MiniTool Partition Wizard is what you are looking for. This powerful software can help you migrate Windows 10 OS to a new drive easily. Here's how to reinstall Windows 10 on a new drive.
Tip: Since the free edition does not support this function, you need to install the MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro or more advanced edition for the migration. Click here to know more about edition comparison.
Step 1. Connect the drive that's used to save the Windows to your computer.
Step 2. Launch this software to get the main interface and click on the Migrate OS to SSD/HD Wizard feature from the left pane.
Step 3. In the pop-up window, select the Option B to copy the system required partitions only and click on Next to go on.
Step 4. Select the hard drive connected to your computer and click on Next. Then you will see a warning message saying all the data on the target disk will be destroyed. Click on Yes to confirm this operation.
Step 5. Select a copy option based on your needs and click on Next to continue.
Step 6. Click on the Finish button in the next window.
Step 7. Click on Apply to execute the pending operations.
Once all the above steps are finished, you can connect the target drive to your Windows PC and set your computer to boot from the drive.
Wrapping Up
How do I wipe and reinstall Windows 10? This post walks you through detailed steps based on 2 different cases. In addition, you can utilize MiniTool Partition Wizard to erase hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 with ease.
If you have any questions about this software, you can send us an e-mail via [email protected]. We also appreciate any opinions about this topic in the comment area.
How Do I Wipe My Hard Drive Clean and Reinstall Windows FAQ
Here you need to prepare a password reset disk and follow the steps below to unlock computer without a password.
- Insert the password reset disk to your computer.
- Start your computer and click on the Reset Password link on the lock screen.
- Click on the Next button to change or remove the password.
USB Flash drives are one of luminous and disparate invention to store thousands of files in one convenient location. There are myriad of reasons to use USB flash drives over CD and DVDs. They are portable, fast and easy to use and carry. But after using it for few times, you might need to erase data from USB flash drive to make some more room to store new data or sell it.
A simple deletion will not really erase everything from the USB flash drive securely since any advanced computer user can easily recover them in no time using any data recovery software. You will be amused to see how easy it is to get back all the deleted data in no time. So, if you have any sensitive information stored from company or client information then you must erase them using some third party software to make sure all data are securely deleted and can never be restored using any data recovery software whatsoever. So most people choose to wipe data on computer or wipe Mac clean before selling.
In this guide, we will introduce you to two methods that helps to erase data on USB flash drive permanently. Both are free to implement and can get the job done as quickly as possible to give you the best user experience.
Method #1: Wipe USB Flash Drive by Using In-built Format Option
All Windows and Mac computers comes with an in-built format disk option to erase everything from a USB flash drive. We will show you how to use this feature as your advantage to make sure everything is deleted permanently.
Step 1. Insert the USB flash drive to the computer and let the PC detect it.
Step 2. Open 'My Computer' and right-click on the flash drive disk name.
Step 3. Find 'Format' from the option and make a left click on it with the help of your mouse.
Step 4. You will be able to see a window with the following option.
It will show you the storage capacity and file system. By default, it can be either NTFS or FAT32 and the volume label just indicates the name of the flash drive. Just leave it to the default settings and click on 'Start'.
Step 5. Wait for few minutes until the formatting process is finished. It may take several minutes depending on the size of the USB Flash drive. Make sure to keep it connected while the process is taking place.
Step 6. After you see the 'Format Successful' pop up messages, you can eject the flash drive.
Warning: This should delete all the files from the flash drive. But as we mentioned earlier, a simple deletion and formatting doesn't really permanently delete everything from the USB drive, they're still be easily recovered by some data recovery softweare. . If the files are not important then you can use this simple deletion option but if you do have confidential company and client information stored in it then you might have to use a professional external tool to erase everything permanently.
Method #2: How to Completely Wipe USB Flash Drive with SafeWiper for Disk
To reduce the risk that someone might recover sensitive data from your USB flash drive, you need to use eraser software to securely erase data from removable USB disk.
SafeWiper for Disk is a professional data deletion tool that erases everything from a drive disk permanently. This little tool deletes data from a disk drive as it never existed on the first place. So, if you are erasing confidential and sensitive data from your USB flash drive then it is assured that the data deletion is beyond recovery. No data recovery has succeeded to recover data from any drive after being deleted using SafeWiper. It is easy to use but to use advanced deletion techniques, you will have to pay a small fee to enjoy the full benefits of this software.
Safewiper for Disk - Permanently Wipe Your USB Drive
- Wipe data and hard drives permanently beyond recovery.
- Permanently wipes data on partitions and disk volumes with advanced wiping algorithm which overwrites your data up to 35 times.
- Uses advanced algorithms (Dod 5220-22.M, US Army, Peter Guttman) to 100% completely wipe data.
- Supports all popular Windows file systems, NTFS, Fat, Fat32.
Step 1 Download and Install Program, Insert Your USB Drive to PC
Download SafeWiper for Disk on your computer, install and run it. SafeWiper for Disk offers to complete hard drives or logical hard drives. So you either completely remove everything from a hard disk or only the hierarchical partitions created from the hard disk. Choose the USB flash drive disk and click on 'Next'.
Step 4 Choose Wiping Algorithm
Click the Setting on the proram, you will see four wiping method in the list. You can use the featured high level deletion techniques including Peter Guttmann Secure Deletion, North Atlantic Treaty Organization_NATO standard, Guttmann Method and so on. The more advnaced wiping algorithm you choose, the more time it will take.
Step 5 Start Deleting Files from Computer (Mac/Windows)
How Do I Erase A Flash Drive On My Mac
After choosing the wiping method, simply click on 'Wipe' and the program will automatically start erasing everything from the USB flash drive. Wait for few minutes until the data are securely removed from the disk drive.
Now, you can audit the USB flash drive and everything will be permanently erased.
Note: Realize that the data deleted using this software is permanent and there's no going back after this. So, make sure to generate a full back up before using this software.
How To Clean Flash Drive
Summary:
How To Delete A Flash Drive
It is recommended to use professional external software like SafeWiper Data Wiper to permanently delete everything from a USB flash drive if it contains any classified and private data to make sure nobody can steal it. Any computer genius can easily recover deleted data from your USB flash drive if you use the simple deletion technique. You must take a step further to maintain the safety and privacy of the data. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed and found this article useful.
