How to Wipe a Hard Drive in Windows XP Without CD

How to wipe a Windows XP computer and delete everything? Try the following two solutions: one is to wipe a hard drive in Windows XP directly, and the other is to wipe the hard drive as well as OS in the WinPE environment with a bootable disk. Navigate to the guide you need.

When Wipe Hard Drive in Windows XP

Being different from deleting a partition or formatting a hard drive, to WIPE a hard drive means to completely erase data from a computer, leaving no chance of recovery. Thus, when it comes to wiping a hard drive, you need to make it clear why you have this need, and what data you don't want anymore. At last, choose an appropriate way to wipe a hard drive in Windows XP.

First and foremost, in what circumstances will Windows XP users want to remove everything from a hard drive? Here is a list for you to check.

Sell a computer
Donate a computer to a friend or relative
Replace an old hard drive with a new one

All those examples are about protecting personal information (accounts, codes, financial apps info) and files (documents, music, movies, pictures, installed applications), When you decide to sell or abandon the computer, you don't want data to reappear after a particular treatment. That's why you want to wipe a hard drive instead of simply deleting or formatting it, by which data becomes invisible but not really gone.

Can Factory Reset Wipe Hard Drive on Windows XP

When talking about deleting everything off a computer, many users would choose to restore the computer to the factory settings. If you're about to remain the Windows XP and make the computer bootable, it should work by going back to the factory defaults. Restoring a computer to its factory settings will delete all data, programs, and drivers that were not included in the original configuration of that computer.

As you see, the factory reset simply deletes the data and restores the system; it does not erase the disk, and the lost files are still recoverable. So, factory reset can't wipe a hard drive on the computer. Then, how to do it? How to wipe a hard drive Windows XP without CD?

One efficient way to permanently and completely wipe hard drive data on your Windows XP hard drive without using an installation disc is to apply a data erasing tool. Here we'd like to recommend you try Qiling Partition Master with its Wipe Data feature.

How to Wipe a Hard Drive Windows XP Without CD

Qiling partition master enables you to wipe a hard drive in Windows XP without CD in two ways: one is directly wiping the hard drive on Windows XP, and the other is wiping the whole computer, including OS with a bootable disk in WinPE.

In addition to Wipe Data, Qiling Partition Master provides other one-stop partition and disk management solutions.

Resize/move partitions, create, format, delete, copy, and merge partitions
Convert file system from FAT32 to NTFS, convert MBR to GPT, convert dynamic disk to basic disk
Transfer free disk space from one drive to another directly
Migrate OS to SSD to speed up Windows without reinstalling

Now, download this simple data wiping tool to wipe a hard drive in Windows XP without installation disc.

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1. How to Wipe a Hard Drive in Windows XP

Step 1. Launch Qiling Partition Master, and choose "Wipe Data".

In the new window, set the time for which you want to wipe your partition.

Step 2. Click the partition you want to erase data from, and click "Proceed".

2. How to Erase the Hard Drive and OS on Windows XP with Bootable Disk

If you mean to permanently remove everything, including the operating system, you need to wipe a whole hard disk by other means. Average computer users even don't have a clue. Due to the system partition protection feature in Windows OS, a standard way won't allow users to completely wipe a hard drive with Windows XP or other Windows OS. When you get stuck in this situation, continue with Qiling Partition Master to wipe the hard drive with a bootable disk in WinPE.

Since you're deleting OS, you need to boot your computer from bootable Qiling Partition Master by creating a WinPE environment at first, then wipe the Windows XP computer in the WinPE environment.

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Tip

If you do not want to wipe a hard drive in Windows XP computer with its OS by creating a boot disk, you can also do it by connecting the disk to another computer. Remove the disk from the original Windows XP and connect it to another computer as a secondary disk, and then install and use Qiling Partition Master to wipe the computer.

Step 1. Prepare a disc or drive. To create a bootable disk of Qiling Partition Master, you should prepare a storage media, like a USB drive, flash drive, or a CD/DVD disc. Correctly connect the drive to your computer. Then, launch Qiling Partition Master, go to the "Create bootable media" feature on the tool page. Click on it.

Step 2. You can choose the USB or CD/DVD when the drive is available. However, if you do not have a storage device at hand, you can also save the ISO file to a local drive, and later burn it to a storage media. Once made the option, click "Proceed".

Step 3. Connect the WinPE bootable disk to the computer. Restart your computer and press F2/Del at the same time to enter BIOS. Set to boot the PC from "Removable Devices" (bootable USB disk) or "CD-ROM Drive" (bootable CD/DVD) beyond Hard Drive. Press "F10" to save and exit.

Step 4. Install and launch Qiling Partition Master, choose "Wipe Data".

Step 5. Select the HDD or SSD which you want to wipe. Set the number of times to wipe data. You can set to 10 at most, and click "Proceed".

After the process ends, your computer should not be able to boot anymore as there is no system installed, and it's worry-free to send it to other places now.

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Conclusions

Finally, let's go over the main contents of this tutorial. When you want to wipe a hard drive in Windows XP without CD, you have to ways to reach it. You can run Qiling Partition Master in Windows XP to wipe partitions and disks if you want to keep the system. Whereas if you're going to erase the data and OS together, you can do it WinPE environment with a bootable disk.

Note again, restoring your computer to factory reset can't wipe the hard drive, some restore your computer to the factory state and delete data partitions. Some just restore the system disk. If you wish to factory reset Windows XP, you can read the guides carefully.

How to Wipe a Windows XP Computer FAQs

1. How do I erase my hard drive Windows XP?

If you just need to erase your hard drive in Windows XP and keep the OS, it very simple to do it with the Qiling data wiping tool.

Step 1. Start Qiling Partition Master, right-click the partition you want to erase data from and choose "Wipe Data".

Step 2. Set the time for which you want to wipe your partition, then click "OK".

Step 3. Click the "Execute Operation" and "Apply" to wipe the data on your partition.

2. How do you delete everything on Windows XP?

To delete everything on Windows XP, restoring it to the factory setting is the right way. You can do it with or without the original disc.

3. How do I wipe my computer Windows XP without a disk?

If you do not want to erase your computer data and system by creating a boot disk, you can also do it by connecting the disk to another computer. Remove the disk from the original Windows XP and connect it to another computer as a secondary disk, and then install and use Qiling Partition Master to wipe the computer.

4. How do you wipe a computer clean to sell it?

To wipe a computer completely clean without any chance of recovery, we recommend you try to erase the data and OS together. As factory reset won't wipe the hard drive, and the lost data is still recoverable. Restoring a computer to factory settings is not a perfect method.