How to wipe a hard drive

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UnbrokenOath

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Mar 20, 2017
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I just installed a brand new 500gb ssd and transfered the files i want. I now want to wipe my hard drive but I have no idea how to do so. I've tried googling but all i found was completely reinstalling windows on the HDD. is there not a way to just restore the hard drive to the way it was when i got it? Without effecting the ssd at all?

And if the only way is by reinstalling windows, how would that even work? Considering i want windows on my ssd?


Thanks!
 
Solution
Solandri
Word of advice. Before wiping the HDD, first try disconnecting it (detach the SATA cable) and see if the system still boots with only the SSD attached.

Beginning with Windows Vista, Microsoft allowed Windows to install on a secondary disk. This can create a situation where the Windows partition is on the SSD, but the boot drive is still the HDD. If your system is in this state and you wipe the HDD, the system will no longer boot.

If you disconnect the HDD and the SSD boots, then all is good. You can wipe the HDD. If it doesn't boot, then you're going to have to try running a repair on the SSD (with the HDD still disconnected) to make it bootable. This tends to be easier if you can reconnect the HDD to get a workable system so...
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Solandri

Solandri

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Jan 4, 2012
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Word of advice. Before wiping the HDD, first try disconnecting it (detach the SATA cable) and see if the system still boots with only the SSD attached.

Beginning with Windows Vista, Microsoft allowed Windows to install on a secondary disk. This can create a situation where the Windows partition is on the SSD, but the boot drive is still the HDD. If your system is in this state and you wipe the HDD, the system will no longer boot.

If you disconnect the HDD and the SSD boots, then all is good. You can wipe the HDD. If it doesn't boot, then you're going to have to try running a repair on the SSD (with the HDD still disconnected) to make it bootable. This tends to be easier if you can reconnect the HDD to get a workable system so you can look up instructions on how to do the repair.
 
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