Factory Default Disc Question

[clcoble]

Hey there, I purchased a prebuilt Gateway back in 2010 that uses Windows 7 and it's really starting to run slow. I was thinking of basically starting over to see if I can get it running back to how it was. However, I have a Windows 10 license that I want to test on it. My questions are:

1. Should I use something like DBAN to wipe everything off and then use the Windows 10 installation?

2. If I decide I don't want Windows 10 on this anymore, can I use a Factory Default Disc to get Windows 7 back?

Thanks!

 

[CountMike]

No, you don't need Dban to wipe disk, it's enough to choose to delete all partitions during install. On the other hand, you could just upgrade from W7 to 10 and if you don't want it use disk to revert.

 

[clcoble]

If I upgrade to W10 will it delete all partitions? I'm thinking you're right and I just upgrade to 10 as long as it'll delete everything.

Thanks for the help!

 

[CountMike]

No, straight upgrade will leave everything as it is. even programs should work. If you have a 3rd party AV, you should remove it just in case.

 

[clcoble]

Gotcha. So, if I want to start anew basically should I go with the dban + install Windows 10 route? Or should I use the recovery disks to wipe it clean, install Windows 7 and then upgrade to Windows 10?

Thanks.

 

[CountMike]

No, youdon't need Dban for anything like that, even for clean install of any Windows you can just choose to delete all or some partitions before installation actually starts. For instance, if you have a dedicated data partition, you can choose to delete onyl partitions needed for booting and C: partition, Your data partition would not be affected. With Dban it would wipe everything and I mean WIPE by overwriting every bit set number of times, that's a lot of unnecessary work for disk that can shorten it's life time. Only time you need Dban or anything like that is if you are selling disk and don't want anybody to restore your files.