If you need to reset your hard drive, the process depends on the operating system you are using.
Windows 10
1. Back up your important data and files as resetting the drive deletes all existing information.
2. Open File Explorer and right-click on the drive you want to reset. Select “Format.”
3. In the Format window, type in a name for the drive, select the File System dropdown, and choose “NTFS.”
4. Check “Perform a quick format” to save time.
5. Click the “Start” button to begin the formatting process.
6. Once the formatting is complete, click “OK.”
7. Reboot the computer.
Mac OS X
1. Make sure all your important data is backed up before resetting.
2. Open Disk Utility, located in the Applications > Utilities folder.
3. Click “Erase” from the menu bar.
4. Select the current hard drive from the list of available drives.
5. Choose “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” from the Format dropdown.
6. Choose “Erase” to erase the drive and reset it.
7. Once the reset is complete, click “Done.”
8. Reboot the computer.
Linux
1. Back up any important data before resetting the hard drive.
2. Boot into your Linux Live CD or USB drive.
3. Open your Terminal application.
4. Type “fdisk -l” without the quotes. This will list your drives and their partitions.
5. Type “dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/[drive name] bs=512 count=1” without the quotes. [Drive name] should be replaced with the name of your drive from the fdisk -l command.
This will write 512 “zeroes” to the beginning of the drive, effectively erasing any data that was present.
6. Reboot the computer.