1) On wiping the hard drive clean, is XP any different than Windows 98 ? Someone told me one cannot wipe out the info just by putting in the disk & doing it the same as 98? Could someone explain?
2) On System restore, why is it that if I click on days it will not restore, I THOUGHT any day I click on would take it back in time, point being I installed a program, it will not un install, therefore I want to back step to restore with the thought that It will take the machine back in time??? Help!
98 is way before my time with computers. To wipe a drive you need software which will repetitively write ones and zeroes to all of it. It's out there. Some firewall apps include it as a tool. But why would you wish to do that if not to hide tracks? Certainly, a new installation does not demand it. It is a lengthy waste of time, unless the FBI is after you.
Quick format: erases the file allocation table. That's it. But without forensic tools, the files are for all purposes lost, even though stil on the disk. A new installation will not see them.
Full format: does the same, plus checks the integrity of the disk surface.. eg with chkdsk.
Restore. Your sys should make a restore point [if set to make them] whenever you attempt to install software [ ie the point is made so that you can roll back to the previous state if necessary; it is made before the installation proceeds]. Otherwise, not all days have a "just for the fun of it" point made... the sys must be idle before it will do it, plus you must have enough disk space allocated to Sys Restore.
As far as a format is considered XP and 98 are the same and work as mentioned above by Gerbil...
If you normally delete a file or format the HDD data can be recovered intact as long as it has not been replaced by some other data on that sector of the HDD, A HDD wipe on the other hand removes all traces from the HDD and the data is lost forever...
A recommended tool for wiping clean the HDD is Darik's Boot And Nuke, it has various methods for wiping a HDD which may vary from say 2 hrs to even 12+ hrs for a 120 GB HDD....
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