Wiping XP Laptop

[TomsFocus]

Can anyone tell me how I can wipe an XP laptop to sell it?  It's an old HP Pavilion (ze something) but I guess XP works the same on anything.

I've tried system restore back to 2014 (when I bought it 2nd hand) which took half an hour but all of the programs and info I want to wipe are still there! 😮

I've also got an old XP disc so tried to wipe it by booting from this disc by pressing 'any key' during the boot screen...it starts to work but then after 5 mins the laptop just shuts down.  Not sure if the disc is damaged or if the laptop is blocking it somehow.

So any ideas as to how I can wipe it either back to factory settings or install a fresh XP on it?

Cheers

Tom

 

 

[Nick Y]

The only real way to guarantee that it is clear is to format the HDD and then reinstall Windows. You will need the product key associated with that copy of Windows and that PC (it used to be displayed on a sticker somewhere on the bottom).
Bear in mind that if you do that, it won't apply any updates after the version of XP you have as they are no longer supported. 

Or, you could find out how to use the boot load menu (usually press Del or one of the F keys to enter setup) from the first BIOS screen, select the recovery option but then choose to wipe and reinstall. 

It's been a while since I did an XP wipe/reinstall so not 100% certain if it will work the way I mentioned above. 

[TomsFocus]

Ah I see, I knew there were no recent updates for XP but I thought all of the old ones were still accessible.

In that case maybe it'll be better to try and wipe it without removing the OS.  There isn't any sensitive info on it as it's only been used for vehicle diags but I still want it clear before selling it really.

[Nick Y]

I'm not sure but you may still be able to get the updates etc. I thought MS had fully removed the updates.  
I know support ended for XP for home users in 2012/13 and for busines in 2014. The laptop may still be able to access any ncesessary updates if running on the older service packs (SP3 was the last one released) if they are still available online. 
 

[Luke4efc]

I take it it's not powerful enough to install windows 7?

Windows XP is worthless for anything other then old and specialised software. The laptop isn't really worth selling so would strip it for bits.

If you still want to spend a few hours of your time reimaging it, trying to find drivers (chances are 1 or 2 will have disappeared off the manufacturer's website) then go ahead lol. Torrenting and burning a .iso will be the quickest way to get it on a disk.

Not sure how youd want to activate it though. The activation servers were turned off years ago. I used to have a stash of unused XP codes (from the bottom of old laptops after striping for spares), but got rid a few months after Microsoft ended support for XP. I'd never sell an XP machine now and would remove the HDD before throwing away so just use an activation tool (shhh😂).

Either that or find an unattended XP installer. Like what they use in schools to reimage all the PC's overnight with a click of a button. Most importantly, no key required. Good luck with that Haha, they're probably like gold dust unless you're a computer tech.

[jace1969]

Is it a large HDD as if only a small one i would just get a cheap HDD like a 60GB or something and you know 100% your details are with you.

As for clearing it i did it a few ways on my old Dell laptop,i put a windows disc in and booted it then it started to format it through the process to install or format/repair.

[TomsFocus]

3 hours ago, jace1969 said:

As for clearing it i did it a few ways on my old Dell laptop,i put a windows disc in and booted it then it started to format it through the process to install or format/repair.

That's what I've tried to do but the laptop won't have it!  It starts the process but then just cuts out.  

11 hours ago, Luke4efc said:

I take it it's not powerful enough to install windows 7?

Windows XP is worthless for anything other then old and specialised software. The laptop isn't really worth selling so would strip it for bits.

If you still want to spend a few hours of your time reimaging it, trying to find drivers (chances are 1 or 2 will have disappeared off the manufacturer's website) then go ahead lol. Torrenting and burning a .iso will be the quickest way to get it on a disk.

Not sure how youd want to activate it though. The activation servers were turned off years ago. I used to have a stash of unused XP codes (from the bottom of old laptops after striping for spares), but got rid a few months after Microsoft ended support for XP. I'd never sell an XP machine now and would remove the HDD before throwing away so just use an activation tool (shhh😂).

Either that or find an unattended XP installer. Like what they use in schools to reimage all the PC's overnight with a click of a button. Most importantly, no key required. Good luck with that Haha, they're probably like gold dust unless you're a computer tech.

XP is still useful for a lot of vehicle diags as that's exactly what I bought it for.  I would assume other people with old cars will still be after XP laptops for the same reason.  I just haven't used it myself recently as I now only work on VAGs with VCDS or Fords with Forscan/FoCCCus/ElmC which all work on my Win10 laptop.  I could try and sell it specifically as a Peugeot Planet/Citroen Lexia package but thought that might restrict buyers...  Will have to think about it!

[TomsFocus]

Ah!  Think I've found the issue here...  I had to use Deep Freeze for done software a while ago but it's still on now.  Cant remember the password to disable it now... 😮

I've read that advancing the BIOS clock should disable the Deep Freeze...but my BIOS doesn't seem to have a clock on there...am I being thick here!?

[Luke4efc]

Take the battery out and leave for an hour or so.

[TomsFocus]

5 minutes ago, Luke4efc said:

Take the battery out and leave for an hour or so.

The normal power battery?  It doesn't hold any charge at all off mains power so can't see removing it making a difference?  If you mean the BIOS battery I wouldn't know where to start stripping a laptop, used to work on desktop towers but even that must be a decade ago now lol!

[Luke4efc]

13 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The normal power battery?  It doesn't hold any charge at all off mains power so can't see removing it making a difference?  If you mean the BIOS battery I wouldn't know where to start stripping a laptop, used to work on desktop towers but even that must be a decade ago now lol!

Yes I meant the bios battery lol. Sometimes you have to strip the laptop to the motherboard, other times (and more likely on older laptops) you can remove some of the covers (that gains you access to the HDD, RAM etc.). 

[TomsFocus]

18 minutes ago, Luke4efc said:

Yes I meant the bios battery lol. Sometimes you have to strip the laptop to the motherboard, other times (and more likely on older laptops) you can remove some of the covers (that gains you access to the HDD, RAM etc.). 

Lol, my bad.   I'll have a look at removing the covers now.

In other news, the Win10 laptop battery died while trying to reply to this lol...that's the third time this morning...    New one has arrived now though, do you know if it still needs a long first charge to set the memory or is that no longer the case with Li-ion batteries?  I'm reading conflicting ideas online!

[TomsFocus]

So, turns out you can't access the battery through rear covers.  But you can just remove the speaker grill and keyboard to get there...left it out for an hour but no change.

Downloaded Anti Deep Freeze which is meant to bypass DeepFreeze but that didn't work either.

Downloaded Meltdown which is meant to give the original password...  Success!!  The password was 'ford'...FML!

Can now delete things...  However the laptop keeps randomly cutting out on mains power...  No idea if it's always done it as I've only ever used it for a few minutes at a time before.  Are there any diagnostics I can use to see why it keeps cutting out as I really wouldn't know where to start.  Will probably just s rap it if I can't stop it cutting out.