Is there a download or a program I can buy to wipe out my laptop  and start from scratch?
930696
Insert your Windows Operating System disk and reboot.  Check the BIOS settings if it won't reboot.   Once you reboot, begin the installation.  When it gets to the point of WHERE, select that partition for Deletion, then allow the installation program to format the hard drive.  \n\nIf you do not have the Windows installation disk, GET ONE. \n\nGood luck
940588
There are a few places I would check. One is CNET and look at the downloads, there is freeware and shareware app's. Another site is Lifehacker which has suggestions on how to clean up, speed up, make your computer useful again. One utility that I found useful (costs 29.95 USD) was Ace Utilities (can be found on CNET). Seemed to help get rid of a lot of junk files, duplicates, allow managing startup programs etc.
1163012
click on the start button to shut your computer dow. this resets all of your computer;'s defaults. then start it up again and log back on.\n\n◙◙ LEARN COMPUTER BASICS ◙◙\n\n◙ You should have read a great book called "Windows XP For Dummies" (no I'm not calling you a dummy) like I did when I first got on the Web. Except back then it was called "Windows 95 For Dummies". Trust me it's a great book and has lots of humor in it as well. There are two of them. Get the one that is 9 books in one. it has the most info. Don't read this book from cover-to-cover. Instead use it as a reference book.\n\n◙ This book will teach you haow do do many many things with your computer. Some of them are copy, paste, delete, highlighting text, making a file, saving a file and the list goes on and on. Getting on the web before you learn the basics of your computer is like trying to be a race car driver before you learn how to drive.\n\n◙ Look for this book at your local public library. If they don't have it have them use their username and password to login to firstsearch.org where they can get any book from any library in the world. :)
1118468
Do you mean completely restart the computer with the same settings as before? (AKA reformat the hard drive)\n\n1. Insert the start up discs that came with you computer in the cd-rom drive. There could be more than one, so get the one labeled first.\n2. Turn off your machine\n3. Start your machine, while the machine starts hold C or ctrl-C. I don't remember which it is, but the computer will indicate to start the computer from the cd rom. (It should be at the bottom of the screen when starting the computer) \n4. This will start copying the instructions from the disk inside the cd-rom. Then just follow the instructions.\n\nI would suggest backing up all your data that you need on cds or get an external hard drive. Once you reformat the hard drive, all the data, music and movies will be erased completely.
1044943
You might try BadCopy. I don't know that it is free but I'm sure there some programs like it on the web. \n\nBadCopy will dig anything off of your disk (even deleted files). Still, I wouldn't pay for something you will rarely use.
49005
go to start and then to programs and then to accessories and then to system tools and then to disk clean up.the rest is self-explanatory\n\n\ncid
1077986
You can use a program like CCleaner (freeware) and manually uninstall all of your programs. You can then reformat the drive. If you perform an OS reinstall, don't select repair. Reinstall the OS fresh, and that will remove everything and start over.
722148
check out \n\nwww.clearstart.org
649466
Formatting would be your best bet. Though there are certain commercial softwares which do this for you and then rewrite junk on the drive so that all previous info is lost but since nothing important is there a simple reformat would do. In order to do it you would have to boot into the command prompt. if you are using a certain brand like Dell or HP they have system restore which allows you to reset your computer to the day you bought it thus in effect starting out on a clean slate for any new user.\nI would personally recommend this(provided of course you have this feature)\n\nCheck out the link on Cnet about deleting data, it also has some links for softwares which will help you erase your HardDisk.
44426
You can format the hard drive by taking the disk that came with it and putting it in at start up. Doing this will wipe out EVERYTHING on the computer.
556505
wiping it clean of data
728041
http://www.sys-shield.com - AbsoluteShield File Shredder\nYou can use this to make a boot floppy that will completely erase everything on the hard drive.\nAnd its free!
444214
Well it didn't exactly "rescue" me from troubles, but... I'll tell you my story.\nI have a Dell Inspiron notebook. All of a sudden, my hard disk purred and crashed! (I had WinXP Pro in the hard disk)\nOh great! what am I gonna do? I dont have any money to buy a new hard disk, and my dad is gonna kill me if he gets to know about this.\nI got an idea! I whipped out all the free DVDs I got with magazines and found one that had a GamesKnoppix ISO file. Took that DVD to a studio, and got the ISO burned to a CD-R.\nCame home, put in the CD, set the BIOS to boot from it, and voila! Linux-on-CD!\nI have a 64MB flash drive, so I made that a "mini-hard-disk" for my Live CD, so that I can store the settings and retrieve them the next time I boot Linux. I just need to enter a small instruction, and the OS automatically retrieves the settings stored there and applies them.\nLife's good with the Linux. I'm able to browse with Mozilla Firefox, chat with Gaim, edit HTML stuff with KWrite (it's so much better than Windows Notepad) and have fun checking out Linux and playing with Terminal. It's cool!\n\nBut I still miss Windows XP :((\n_______\nViva La Dvorak! - www.dvzine.org
921077
Honestly if you are trying to fix your computer, reformatting it will only wipe the data off of the hard drive, there is a lot more to fixing the PC than formatting the hard drive.\nIf you want to 'fix' the laptop by wiping it out and installing XP fresh, then the best way is to boot from the XP CD you got with the laptop. Some laptop don't ship with CDs now, you have to make them (using a utility included with the OS), buy them from the company, or access a hidden partition containing the discs (usually pressing F6 before the windows boot screen)
17399
Check with Compaq for specific instructions.  But, you can usually do a repair install (of Windows 2000 or XP), and it won't delete all your applications and user settings.
907656
Go to your DOS prompt (in Accessories) and type in FORMAT C:&#92;\nThis will erase everything. A verification message will ask if you really want to do this, and perhaps even a second asking is possible. If you format your hard drive, it will erase it all. Forever. Just be sure to Backup all you think is important!
309952
If you ahve the Win XP CD that came with the Laptop, pop it in and click on the setup icon, it will then take you through a wizard to reinstall windows.