How to uninstall Windows XP/7

Question

A simple question but tough one for me to answer . How do I uninstall my Windows XP Completely

Answer 1

It depends on what you mean by uninstall and what you want to keep. Windows has no uninstaller (imagine if it did, you could open up the control panel and uninstall Windows from inside Windows, it'd make for a right mess :p).

The best solution is to copy everything you need to save to a different drive (a flash drive or external HDD which you can physically remove, for extra safety), then reformat the hard-drive and install a new OS.

To remove an operating system, the most common solution is to reformat the drive. There are quite a few bits that are hard to remove and can be left behind if you just delete things (hidden folders, partitions, MBR, etc). You can try to delete all the files, but it's not really a good idea and will be far more work than it's worth.

If you're planning to use the drive as storage, just install a new OS on another drive and use the OS' tools to reformat the first drive. That'll get rid of everything and work just fine (make sure you boot from the new OS).

Answer 2

Format the hard drive that it's on.

Answer 3

To what end are you wanting the operating system removed from the computer? If it's for recycling purposes I'd recommend using DBan. You can create a boot disk and wipe the hard drive with a variety of different techniques.

If it's just so you can re-install, stick in the new OS DVD/CD and when prompted format the drive before continuing the install

Answer 4

If what you want to do is install something else, all you have to do is install over your XP Partition in the Ubuntu/Windows 7 Partitioner. There's no real uninstall for any OS because it's like building a suicide clinic.