Wipe a hard drive is easy. But how to do it without deleting Windows? This is what we will discuss in this post. We will show you the tutorial to wipe a hard drive without deleting Windows.
To wipe a hard drive means that you will erase all data in it. But we will leave the Windows system untouched, so that you don’t need to reinstall Windows system again. This method is used when we are going to sell or recycle the computer, so that the deleted data cannot be restored again using a third-party software.
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Contents
How to Wipe a Hard Drive without Deleting Windows
Backup Hard Drive
However, before we wipe the hard drive, we strongly recommend you to back up all the data in your hard drive to prevent data lost. You can copy all the data in an external hard drive so that if something wrong happens, you still have the back up.
You can rely on this task to a third-party software like MiniTool Partition Wizard. This little app allows you to copy/clone partition disk, migrate Windows OS, wipe partition, resize or move partitions, and many more. With this app, you can just use the clone partition disk to copy all data in certain partition to your external hard drive. This all can be done is a few clicks.
When you have backed up all the data in your hard drive, it’s time to learn the tutorial to wipe a hard drive. Scroll down to know more.
Wipe a Hard Drive
In this section, we will learn how to wipe a hard drive using MiniTool Partition Wizard app. Read on the complete instructions below:
- Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard app on your computer.
- Click on the Wipe Partition in the left panel to continue. Choose the partition which you want to wipe the data.
- A new window will pop-up. You will see five methods to wipe your hard drive.
- Select Fills sector with zero and click OK.
- You will see the targeted partition will turn to Unformatted.
- Click on Apply to proceed.
The wiping process will start immediately. Don’t interfere this process. Wait patiently until it is completed.
Format Partition
What to do after the wiping process completed? You should format the partition so that it can be used to store files. Learn how to format the partition in some simple steps below:
- Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.
- Select the targeted partition and click on the Format Partition on the left pane.
- In the pop up window, choose NTFS and click OK.
- After the partition is formatted, choose Change Drive Letter in the left pane.
- Choose the new drive letter in the pop up window. Hit OK.
- Click on Apply.
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Conclusions
Now, you have successfully done wiping a hard drive without deleting Windows. You can sell or recycle your computer without worry.
If you happen to have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us. Thank you for reading, Folks!