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    how do i erase stuff?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by toyota77, Dec 23, 2008.

  1. toyota77

    toyota77 Notebook Enthusiast

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    sending a POS laptop back for return. where is the option to erase everything? i thought it was restore but the stupid comp wont let me do it. thanks.
     
    toyota77, Dec 23, 2008
    #1
  2. toyota77

    toyota77 Notebook Enthusiast

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    a techie walked me through a way to restore the laptop, so its just the way it came out of the box. does anyone know what im supposed to click on to do this?
     
    toyota77, Dec 23, 2008
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  3. pixelot

    pixelot Notebook Acolyte

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    What laptop is this? Do you have a disc?
     
    pixelot, Dec 23, 2008
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  4. Isend2C

    Isend2C Notebook Deity

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    It's a ThinkPad R400 isn't it? You have a bunch of other posts about that laptop so... assuming...
     
    Isend2C, Dec 23, 2008
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  5. toyota77

    toyota77 Notebook Enthusiast

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    yes its an R400. No system disk. I dont care if i lose anything, its being returned and im getting a new one. i just wanted to erase all my things real quick before i box it up and mail it. thanks.
     
    toyota77, Dec 23, 2008
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  6. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Well, you can download a copy of GParted and delete all the partitions, which would make the HDD RAW. Quicker than formatting. But both deleting partitions and formatting don't actually delete data, it just removes the indexes and all, so the data can be recovered by a third-party software.

    If you've got some personal/confidential data, wipe those files or the data in those folders using Eraser (3-pass DoD), and then delete partitions or format, etc.

    You can also check if there is a Recovery partition on the HDD, and run that via the D2D recovery mechanism during POST.
     
    Andy, Dec 23, 2008
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  7. toyota77

    toyota77 Notebook Enthusiast

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    thanks. nothing too important on the drive. its just that the tech walked me through what was like a "clean install" and it only took about 5 minutes to run. i cant find it now. after it was done, it was like turning on the laptop for the first time (naming your PC, etc)
     
    toyota77, Dec 23, 2008
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  8. akadoublej

    akadoublej Notebook Evangelist

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    You can use Eraser and make a nuke disk that you boot to. That should take care of everything.
     
    akadoublej, Dec 23, 2008
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  9. luci

    luci Newbie

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    Press the blue button right after powering on to boot into recovery mode where you can erase the drive and reinstall windows. Just remember that even after doing so most of your files can be easily recovered.
     
    luci, Dec 23, 2008
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  10. toyota77

    toyota77 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks!! This was it. :)
     
    toyota77, Dec 23, 2008
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  11. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    If you want to completely wipe the drive clean (e.g. clean it of all personal info before selling it/sending it in) try Darik's Boot And Nuke.

    This will let you perform structured random passes and wipe it to the point where the NSA couldn't recover your data. However, this will erase EVERYTHING so make sure you have recovery discs and backups of your data BEFORE you start.
     
    jonlumpkin, Dec 24, 2008
    #11