Question Delete previous user data without wiping the Windows installation ?

[Dr. Tam]

Hello i found old Windows XP PC yesterday near the garbage from a business premises that is under construction, I think this PC belonged to that business.

I cleaned it and made it work. I want to sell this PC but first I want to remove all of the user data files and programs and just leave a vanilla Windows XP without having to reinstall it. Is that possible ?

 

[Ralston18]

Yes - but you will have to find every single business related folder, sub-folder, and file. Some may be hidden.

And the data may be scattered all about if the business end user(s) were not disciplined about where data was saved.

Also, in all fairness, some apps make that determination (default) and the end user(s) may never really consider or realize that.

That said, the following links may prove helpful:

https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager-software/wipe-a-hard-drive-without-deleting-windows.html

https://www.minitool.com/partition-disk/wipe-hard-drive-without-deleting-windows.html

You can find other similar links.