[SOLVED] Removing EVERYTHING from a HDD (including the OS)

wulree

Commendable
Jul 16, 2020
10
0
1,510
i have a simple question but i cannot find an answer to save my life, so i purchased a 1TB SSD today and want to put a fresh install on it and use it as my boot drive, and the rest of the storage + the HDD as game storage, files, etc. so how would i go about completely wiping my HDD as if i just bought it so i can install a new copy of windows on my SSD.
 
Solution
do i unconnect the SSD when i reconnect the HDD so i can wipe it?
No. You have to be booting from the SSD to clean the HDD.
As long as the SSD is first in the boot order, thats what the system will boot from.

Any other drives (the old HDD) are merely storage and can be cleaned or manipulated as desired.

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
i have a simple question but i cannot find an answer to save my life, so i purchased a 1TB SSD today and want to put a fresh install on it and use it as my boot drive, and the rest of the storage + the HDD as game storage, files, etc. so how would i go about completely wiping my HDD as if i just bought it so i can install a new copy of windows on my SSD.
Install the OS on the SSD, with ONLY the SSD connected.
(link to follow below)

Later, reconnect the HDD.
Commandline function diskpart, and the clean command will delete ALL from that drive.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/format-hard-drive-command-prompt,37632.html
Reformat and use as desired.

 

wulree

Commendable
Jul 16, 2020
10
0
1,510
Install the OS on the SSD, with ONLY the SSD connected.
(link to follow below)

Later, reconnect the HDD.
Commandline function diskpart, and the clean command will delete ALL from that drive.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/format-hard-drive-command-prompt,37632.html
Reformat and use as desired.

do i unconnect the SSD when i reconnect the HDD so i can wipe it?
 

wulree

Commendable
Jul 16, 2020
10
0
1,510
No. You have to be booting from the SSD to clean the HDD.
As long as the SSD is first in the boot order, thats what the system will boot from.

Any other drives (the old HDD) are merely storage and can be cleaned or manipulated as desired.
thank you! im doing it right now but i didnt know formatting takes this long. thanks for the help :)