
SSD ) - and virtually all computers sold in the last few years do - you'll have to take an extra step to ensure your old data can't be recovered even after it's erased - you should encrypt it. Keep in mind that cleaning the drive adds time when resetting your PC. The difference appears when someone uses a file recovery tool: standard recovery tools cannot find your old files and settings. If you have a hard disk drive (HDD), it will be thoroughly erased when you refresh Windows. When you or someone else starts using the PC, the reset results are the same. But if you plan to sell or give the computer away, you'll want to take extra precaution to make sure the data stored on your PC is inaccessible to the computer's next owner. There is software we could use first to write zeroes to the HDD.
#How to wipe a computer and start fresh how to
When Mint is installed, we can tell you how to enable your Firewall, and with one on the OS and one at your Router, you are very safe.

#How to wipe a computer and start fresh install
If you are keeping the computer, you can proceed directly to resetting the hard drive back to a fresh version of Windows. Mint uses the Ubiquity Installer developed by Ubuntu, and in it you will get a choice to erase disk and install Mint. How you wipe your PC depends on what you plan to do with it afterward. Hard drive space and return your PC to full, factory-fresh performance. Wiping it and starting fresh can help you reclaim all your You can do this if you're preparing to sell or give away your computer, or you might do this to troubleshoot a problematic PC. Although older versions of Windows didn't make it easy to wipe your computer clean of personal information, that's pretty simple to do with Windows 10. A Windows 10 Fresh Start is similar to a reset, except it DOES NOT preserve OEM and preinstalled third-party software and licensesit reinstalls Windows 10 from scratch.
