'Morning Ann, Basically, yes. But not in a "used" state. When I sell or donate a computer, the first thing I do is completely erase the hard drive. I then format it and reinstall / restore the software that was originally installed at the factory. When it leaves my possession, it's packaged and in the same state as it was when I received it. Exceptions might be if the person wanted an upgraded operating system, additional hardware / software, or otherwise customized in some way. On the other hand, when I'm working with a hard drive that I will continue to use, as in Alan's situation, it's not necessary (for me) to take extra precaution to insure no old data is recoverable before I install an operating system on it. Sven Swanson, Sr. ----- Original Message ----- From: "a fennell" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 4:17 PM Subject: Re: [PCSOFT] FORMATING [ erasing ] Shouldn't the operating system and software that came with PC stay on the drive? Also any CDs that came with it. This stuff was paid for when you purchased the computer. You will get new operating system and stuff when you get the new computer. I would certainly leave the paid for operating system at least - especially if donating it to a charity. Ann Fennell ----- Original Message ----- From: Sven To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 4:37 PM Subject: Re: [PCSOFT] FORMATING [ erasing ] Alan, This site talks about downloading a disk image and another file to be used to place the image on a 1.44 MB floppy disk. Is this image file what you have on CD? http://staff.washington.edu/jdlarios/autoclave/install.html Here are two other programs that will clean the drive: Active@ KillDisk http://www.killdisk.com/ Eraser http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ Unless you're going to part with the drives by donating, selling, or otherwise disposing of them, I wouldn't be too concerned about doing more than a normal format before installing Win 2K. The installation and subsequent use of the drive (in time) will overwrite what was on it. Either way, Win 2K isn't going to know the difference. Sven Swanson, Sr. ----- Original Message ----- From: "alan smith" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 9:48 AM Subject: [PCSOFT] FORMATING [ erasing ] I have 3 40 gig hard drives that I want to ERASE completely so that I can install Windows 2000 PRO and start fresh. I've downloaded Autoclave0.3 onto a CD. It is supposed to do what I want. Is this correct, or can someone suggest a surefire way to clean these hard drives. The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering Mandrake Linux or Red Hat Linux CD sets along with the OpenOffice CD... at a great price!!! http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml