Before you begin, note that you don't need any special tools. Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and all of the Mac operating systems come with all of the tolls that you'll need. The only thing that you'll need is time. While there aren't a lot of buttons to press, you'll need time to wait for commands to finish.

How To Back Up Your Computer Hard Drive

If you would like to quickly backup your files and setup easy automated backups later, follow these steps:

1. Look at all of the programs that are installed on your computer.
   1. Make sure you have a copy of the program to reinstall and have its serial number written down.
   2. Make sure you backup any data files associated with the program.
2. Backup all of your documents such as Word or Excel documents.
3. Don't forget to save your bookmarks and emails.
4. You can manually backup your data by copying all of the files you know you need or you can use a backup software program. There is one that comes with Windows XP that you can use. This article details how to install and use that program. Microsoft: Windows XP Backup Made Easy

1. If you plan to just re-install an operating system than it's probably a good idea just to go ahead with the standard formatting (skip to the instructions below for reinstalling windows) without any other additional methods for deleting data.
2. However, if you are giving away, selling, trading or otherwise disposing of the hard drive, you should probably make sure your data can't be recovered. This is good to prevent any kind of identity theft or just keep your information private from anyone else who might read it. Follow these steps for wiping your data. Z-A Recovery.com:Data Wiping
   1. Decide the level of security you need. You can either buy software or hire a company to wipe your old data. Wiping is done by overwriting your entire hard drive with either a 0 or a 1.
   2. Find a reputable company and buy the software or their services.
   3. Use the software to completely over-write your drive one or more times.
   4. Now you are ready to format the drive.

1. Go into your BIOS and set the boot priority to start with your CD-ROM drive.
   1. To do this restart your computer and watch the screen for the instructions on which key to hit during the start-up process to enter the BIOS.Hiren.info: How to Set BIOS to Boot from CDROM: It is often the Delete or F8 key.
   2. Hit the appropriate key and look through the menus for a boot priority option.
   3. When you find the boot priority option, change it to boot from the CD first, this is often done by using the arrow keys or pageup and pagedown keys.
2. Restart your computer with the Windows (Win98 & higher) disc in the drive.
3. Follow the steps to boot from the CD.
4. You can choose to install a fresh copy of Windows or refresh Windows but this will not give you the option to format.Microsoft: How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
5. Using the commands given delete the current partition.White Canyon: How to Format a Hard Drive with Windows XP
6. Select the now un-partitioned space and create a new partition. WorldStart.com: What does it mean to Partition your hard drive?
7. Choose that partition and format it choosing a file system (Fat or NTFS)
8. Continue installing Windows.