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I have been asked by a friend to wipe clean and reinstall Windows Vista on it.

The laptop is a Sony Viao (if it matters).

What I would like to do is slightly more than just a simple format as it has her business accounts on it - which this thread does.

Then I would like to get an install to the point where the purchaser can simply turn on the machine and create a user, similar to the purchase of a new machine.

I have had a look around the Web and can find information and reinstalling Windows - something I am acutely familiar with - but not to a factory fresh condition.

Does anyone have any links or suggestions? I am guessing I will need to create a slipstream image to get the laptop drivers preinstalled.

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    I would just use the included factory recovery image. The question you link to would wipe all data. All you would then need is a Windows Vista installation disk and use the OEM provided license which is printed on the sticker on the laptop.
    – Ramhound
    Jun 15, 2013 at 12:27
  • But the recovery image wouldn't securely erase my friends business data would it? I have a Vista disc but from my experience it wants to create a new user for it. Can I turn off the machine at that point? When installing an OS I usually create the user a log right on in... Jun 16, 2013 at 7:51

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-I would use this to securely erase your data http://www.dban.org/

-To backup the drivers you could use driver genius http://en.kioskea.net/download/download-1576-driver-genius-professional

-I do not know how to integrate the drivers in the image (you could just give the driver backup that you made + the program driver genious and tell the buyer how he has to install the drivers

"Then I would like to get an install to the point where the purchaser can simply turn on the machine and create a user, similar to the purchase of a new machine."

-To do this, boot from your vista cd (or usb flash drive) and install windows like you would normally do. There will be a point where your pc will tell you that it will restart the pc then, the pc will finish the installation, there will be one more reboot, then you have to force your pc to shutdown when your buyer starts the pc, it will aks to create a user account.

thats how to do it

enter image description here

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  • I should add that once you are at this point you can use any number of bootable tools to wipe the free space on the hdd. Once this is done your friend's data is secure and cannot be recovered.
    – Ramhound
    Jun 17, 2013 at 11:53
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If the laptop has a hidden restore partition on the HD, you need to use DBAN interactively to securely wipe the OS (C:) partition, leaving the Recovery Partition untouched. Then boot into the recovery partition and reinstall the OS. This will give you a brand-new out-the-box installations of Windows.

If there is no recovery partition, use DBAN to wipe the entire Hard Disk, then use an installation disk to reinstall the OS. The Vendor's restore disk is preferable, as that should contain all the needed hardware drivers.

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