Clean a Windows PC

[stefanmaine]

This may be the wrong forum, for which I apologize.

I am in the process of convincing my lovely wife to swap her Dell Optiplex 790 with Windows 10 Pro for a Mac. (She's been with Microsoft since the earliest days of DOS ... as had I.)

I need to clean her PC of all her apps and personal files, folders, and data. We are giving the device away, so I would like to leave it with an OS.

What is the best way for me to do that?

Thank you!

 

[IWT]

To be honest, I'm not familiar with Dell Optiplex products, but the two links below might help you.

Solved: factory restore optiplex 790 | Experts Exchange

Find answers to factory restore optiplex 790 from the expert community at Experts Exchange

www.experts-exchange.com

Using the Dell BIOS Data Wipe function for OptiPlex, Precision and Latitude systems built after November 2015 | Dell UK

Ian

 

[stefanmaine]

The data wipe at that link sounds perfect EXCEPT it relates to Optiplex built after November 2015. A Google search indicates the Optiplex 790 was released in 2011.

I have posted my question at Dell. Hopefully that will generate a response.

Thank you.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Assuming you've backed up the important documents and so on..

Reinstall Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to reinstall Windows on your PC and how activation works after it's installed.

support.microsoft.com

 

[stefanmaine]

That is precisely what I am looking for!

Once again, I thank this forum for being here.

For the information of others who may have the same or a similar question, the following is the response I just read to my question at Dell's forum. (Full Disclosure: RazOrEdge's response filled my need, so I have not followed the links below or considered the accompanying text.)

Download Darik's Boot & Nuke (DBAN). This will wipe all existing data off of the hard drive. If you're still concerned, you can simply replace the hard drive with an inexpensive SSD, which will make the system perform better.

Reinstall Windows 10 using the Media Creation Tool. As long as Windows 10 was successfully activated on that computer in the past, the new install will automatically activate without a key. Otherwise, you will need to reinstall using the original recovery media, then upgrade to 10.

Visit the Dell Support page and enter in the service tag to download any missing drivers. For a 12 year old computer, Windows 10 should be able to detect and install any drivers for devices that were originally part of the system. You should be able to download most of the Dell pre-installed software as well.