![how to wipe a laptop clean to run faster how to wipe a laptop clean to run faster](https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/articles/06seN9qhHZtc6Rv8ocLmKZ2-6..v1619623089.png)
![how to wipe a laptop clean to run faster how to wipe a laptop clean to run faster](https://www.techadvisor.com/cmsdata/features/3470977/how_to_format_a_hard_drive_or_ssd_thumb800.jpg)
You'll probably have to provide the password for your main user account, the one with administrator privileges that allows you to alter the computer's settings. You can do this by opening the Windows Control Panel and clicking System and Security, followed by Administrative Tools, and double-clicking on Computer Management. The first step is to repartition your hard drive. So eventually, once you reinstall a new copy of the operating system, it may run even better than before. On the other hand, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, because you're also going to undo any software problems and destroy any malware that's infected the PC. Once you reformat a drive, for most practical purposes you wipe clean the remaining traces of data, the software programs and the operating system. This is the step that's a little scary, because of its finality. One advantage is that it also lets you do a little housekeeping and ditch stuff that you don't need anymore.
#How to wipe a laptop clean to run faster portable
You open both your hard drive and the portable drive in separate Windows Explorer windows and then click and drag your files and directories onto the portable drive. Īnother option is to transfer files from your old PC onto a portable drive by attaching the drive to a USB port.
![how to wipe a laptop clean to run faster how to wipe a laptop clean to run faster](https://academy.avast.com/hubfs/New_Avast_Academy/how_to_completely_wipe_an_old_hard_drive_academy/Academy-How-to-completely-wipe-an-old-hard-drive-Hero.jpg)
Use this utility along with a special cable to hook up your old and new PCs and transfer the data directly between them. You can also use a Microsoft utility called Windows Easy Transfer that lets you choose what you want to move over to your new machine, including documents, music, pictures, e-mail, even program settings and user accounts. That way, you have an extra copy of your data in case something goes wrong. If you have a PC, before you do anything else, copy all the stuff you want to keep onto a portable drive and then recopy it onto the hard drive of your new computer.