Wiping hard drive

[toddc]

I am attempting to fix my sisters Windows XP machine. She had another party attempt to fix it not too long ago and he ended up putting a bad copy of Windows on the pc and she is unable to validate. Not only is she not able to validate but she also has a worm infecting her pc that we have been unsuccessful in removing. I attempted to reinstall the OS and got to the point of choosing where to install the OS and found that he had created 2 partitions and had not only reinstalled on the C: drive but had also reinstalled on the 2 partitions he created. My thought is that I could just wipe the drive and start over. With that in mind, does anyone know of any free software that can be used to complete this task and also any recommendations would greatly appreciated.

 

[mailpup]

You don't need third party software. During Window XP Setup you have the opportunity to remove one of the partitions which will give you one large one (the whole hard drive). You then can format the whole drive and continue with Windows installation after that.

 

[toddc]

Great. Sounds good. Thanks for the information.