Removing Your Data From An Old Computer
 

If you are planning to donate or even recycle your old PC when you upgrade, you need to make sure that your information is no longer on the old computer. At minimum, you should format the hard drive and reinstall windows. Follow these steps to make sure that your computer is formatted and your old data is removed.

1. Insert Windows CD and restart your computer.
    
2. Your computer should automatically boot from the CD to the Windows Setup Main Menu.
    
3. At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.
    
4. Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
    
5. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC.
    
6. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition or the unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition. Press D to delete all of the existing partitions, then press C to create a new partition.
    
7. Press ENTER to create the partition with the maximum size.
    
8. Select the format option that you want to use for the partition (Recommended: NTFS), and then press ENTER.
    
9. After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that appear on the screen to continue installing Windows.

The above steps will remove your data from the computer and leave it in a clean state.

Information provided as a courtesy of CityBizDirectory