I'm hoping someone can help me out as I'm a little stuck. I have an old Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop running Windows ME. Me intention is to wipe the HDD so I can sell/recycle it safely, but I'm really stuck how to do this. Few extras: I have a floppy drive, but no floppy disks to create a startup disk (and I'm hoping that's not the only way) I have a "Reinstallation CD WMe" that came with the laptop, but I get the impression it's not something I can boot from. I could be wrong – if it was bootable I expected to be shown the option on startup. Any advice would be very welcome!

Hi Taffston, Select the Custom Option, then show me what you see next.

I've got to here. Last time I just proceeded with a Typical installation.

Ok, thanks so much. I'll give it another go!

Hi Justin, Yes, there should be the option at the start of the installation to delete all partitions on the drive. It is a long time since I installed Windows Me, start the installation again, and please provide a photo of the options you have and I will work through that with you.

Wipe HDD & Re-Install Windows ME

Anonymous

I'm hoping someone can help me out as I'm a little stuck. I have an old Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop running Windows ME. Me intention is to wipe the HDD so I can sell/recycle it safely, but I'm really stuck how to do this.

Few extras:

I have a floppy drive, but no floppy disks to create a startup disk (and I'm hoping that's not the only way)
I have a "Reinstallation CD WMe" that came with the laptop, but I get the impression it's not something I can boot from. I could be wrong – if it was bootable I expected to be shown the option on startup.

Any advice would be very welcome!

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44 answers

DaveM121 936.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2021-07-14T10:04:03+00:00

Hi Taffston,

Select the Custom Option, then show me what you see next.
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Anonymous

2021-07-14T10:01:26+00:00

I've got to here. Last time I just proceeded with a Typical installation.
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DaveM121 936.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2021-07-14T09:53:13+00:00

Okay Taffston, I will be here.
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Anonymous

2021-07-14T09:52:37+00:00

Ok, thanks so much. I'll give it another go!
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DaveM121 936.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2021-07-14T09:42:08+00:00

Hi Justin,

Yes, there should be the option at the start of the installation to delete all partitions on the drive.

It is a long time since I installed Windows Me, start the installation again, and please provide a photo of the options you have and I will work through that with you.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments