Computer thinks it's a Dell, but it's not.

[iwanthl3]

Sorry if this question is in the wrong category. Yesterday, I completed my first ever build, and surprisingly, everything went fairly smoothly during the building process. My specs are an Intel i7-7700K, 8GB of Crucial Ballistix Sport memory, an ASRock Z270 Killer SLI/AC motherboard, an MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X 6GB, a WD 1TB 7200RPM 3.5" hard drive, and a 256 GB M.2 SSD from a Dell laptop. Everything on this list I bought, except for the M.2 SSD, which my dad gave me, since he upgraded to a new SSD with more storage on his laptop. I assembled everything, plugged everything in except for the HDD, and installed Windows 10. I selected the option to custom install where previous versions of Windows including information from other users is deleted. After installation was complete, I deleted the windows.old files. I then ckecked my SSD (where Windows is installed), and there seemed to be many files that were related to my dad's laptop. So, I reset the SSD in the Recovery section of the Control Panel, and I selected to delete everything, and reinstall Windows. Now, when I started up my computer after the reinstall, the computer thinks to seem it is a Dell computer, and when I go to my C drive (the SSD with Windows) there are many Dell folders, and also a windows.old folder that I do not have permission to delete, even if I am the admin. Does anyone have any advice on how I could reformat the SSD or reinstall Windows 10 at the lowest level so that all previous information is completely obliterated and so that my computer no longer has any Dell folders or Dell information? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[william p]

On Dell laptops they create a OS Restore partition in stead of providing a System Disc that can be copied and pirated. They format that partition with a different file system so it can't normally be read by the OS. You will not only need to reformat but also repartiton the drive.

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

When installing windows again boot from dvd or usb
Take advanced options
Look for option to partition disk
Remove all partitions
Install will then create all needed partitions some will be hidden and before and possibly after visible partition

Regards
Mike Barnes

 

[iwanthl3]

I see, so how exactly do I remove these partitions?

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

this site has tutorial on installing Windows 10
http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/computing/how-to-perform-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10-11364000633913


go down to
9. Choose where to install

you can format, delete, extend or make new partitions

so delete all existing partitions

regards
Mike Barnes