reformatting and wiping out a hard drive

How do I got about wiping out and reformatting a hard drive? A friend has received a used computer from another friend and she can't afford to pay someone to do this. It is a Gateway computer that was preloaded with Win 98. She has the discs that come with the computer. I would like to clean it up and get her off to a fresh start . How do I start and what do need to do? Thank you in advance.

 

Use the Gateway disks that game with the machine. Read the labels on the disks and that should give you a clue as to which one to start with. I think the one you want is the Recovery or Restore CD. Once you find it, put it in the CD drive with Windows running. It should autorun and give you instructions on what to do next.

 

Formatting your Gateway . . .

Sandie,

I have, over the past 3 years, become somewhat of an xspurt in the formatting process of a Gateway computer.

I have no idea how old the computer in question is but if your friend has all of the original Gateway disks, this is a fairly simple process with a Gateway, unlike some other brands. Mine is about 4 years old and I format it every 6-12 months. I'm just finishing up my 'Christmas Format' now, actually.

The very first thing you should have her do is "backup" anything at all that is on the machine that she might want to keep. If it is all someone else's junk and she doesn't want any of it - forget any 'backing up ".

Firstly, make absolutely sure you have the Gateway "System Restoration CD" AND the "Operating System Backup CD ". If you don't have the "Operating System Backup CD" you won't have any way to install Windows.

Having said all that - Put the 'Restoration CD" in the CD tray and close it. Click on the "Start" button > Click on 'Shutdown' > select 'Restart' > click OK.

From there, it is just a matter of very carefully reading each screen and doing exactly what the program tells you to do. You will be given some options along the way and I suggest there be some thought given before making any decisions about what you allow it to install. Some of the things offered are so outdated that you will have to download them from the internet anyway, so there is no need to install them now.

If, after installing your 'Operating System' (Win98, Win98SE, WinME or whatever it actually is) you can always go back to the "Restoration CD" and install them later.

Again Sandie, I caution you to read every screen very carefully before you move to the next step. Formatting a hard drive can be a very intiminating process but I have found that Gateway has taken most of the stress out of it for we dullards (re: 'Windows babies') who own Gateway computers and still don't know how to do anything in DOS.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to PM me and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Good luck !!


Mike

 

Thank you for all your help

You guys are great! THANK YOU for all your help. My computer guru died las May and I have been trying to figure all these things out by myself. I really appreciate your replies.

 

Sorry to hear that

 

So . . . . .

How are you doing with all of this stuff, Sandie?

Give us a hint as to whether or not you have become a "Format-er" !!

We may need some help in the future.




Mike