How to Wipe Restore a Computer

1. Remove and unplug all external drives from your computer. Open 'My Computer' to determine how many hard disk partitions you have.
2. Look for partitions other than the C drive. If you only see the C drive, then don't format anything. Otherwise, right-click the D drive and click 'Format.' Click 'Start' on the window that appears. A confirmation box will pop up with a warning that doing so will erase all data on the drive. Click 'OK.' Wait for the format process to finish and close the format tool. Repeat this process for all your hard drive partitions except for C.
3. Insert your Windows installation or system recovery disc that came with your computer into your disc drive. In case you have more than one system recovery disc, be sure to insert the disc labeled 1. Restart your computer.
4. Allow your computer to boot from the CD/DVD. If you are using a Windows installation disc, press any key when the computer asks you to in order to boot from the disc. Follow the setup instructions until you are asked to choose where to install Windows. Select the C partition and proceed with the setup. When asked if you would like to format the partition, choose the option of a quick format with NTFS and proceed with the rest of the Windows setup. If you are using system recovery discs, follow the instructions of your system recovery discs to restore your computer to factory settings.
5. Once the computer restarts for the final time and you are on the desktop of your freshly restored system installation, the restoration process is finished. Remove the restore CD/DVD from the disc drive and insert any data backup disc or plug in any data backup USB drive you have. Navigate to it by opening it in 'My Computer' and copy the required data by right-clicking it and selecting 'Copy.' Paste the data by navigating to the location where you want it, then right-clicking and clicking 'Paste.'