[3 Methods] How to Erase All Data on Laptop in Windows 7

When you have no idea about how to erase all data on laptop in Windows 7, you can find out 3 methods to do it in this post, including the CMD, PC resetting and AOMEI Partition Assistant provided.

Posted by @Tina December 17, 2024 Updated By @Tina October 10, 2023

How do I wipe my laptop and delete everything?

 

I am planning to sell my laptop soon and I want to delete everything. I want to make sure that nothing is traceable (password, documents, other computer files, etc). I have one 500 GB HDD and one 120GB SSD. how to erase all data on my windows 7 laptop? Thanks in advance.

- Question from forums.tomshardware.com

Why need to erase your laptop?

When users use the laptop, most of them may store some confidential files. It can be much more convenient if we want to access them quickly. However, if they want to abandon or sell out the laptop, thoroughly deleting the data is tricky.

Easily deleting files from the PC cannot ensure data security, because the removed data can be recovered by specially designed applications. If you want to protect your privacy, erasing your laptop is necessary. In the next part, we'll show you how to completely wipe a laptop on Windows 7.

How to erase all data on Windows 7 laptop

To totally delete all data from the Windows 7 laptop, you can refer to the following methods.

● Method 1. Wipe a Windows 7 laptop with CMD

CMD(Command Prompt) is a useful built-in tool, when you want to manage the partitions on the PC, such as resizing partition, formatting disk, changing drive letters, etc., you may try to use it. As a functional disk managing utility, it can also wipe a hard drive.

Step 1. Press "Windows" and type "cmd", then click "Run as Administrator".

Step 2. Type "format D: /fs:NTFS" (replace "D" with the target drive letter) and press "Enter". It will format the target drive.

 ● Method 2. Factory reset the Windows 7 laptop

Factory resetting the Windows 7 laptop refers to setting it to the original condition, the data stored, of course, will be completely erased. The detailed steps to factory reset the Windows 7 laptop are as follows.

Step 1. Restart the laptop, repeatedly press the F8 key until you see the PC brand logo, then you'll get in to the Safe Mode.

Step 2. In the new window, select "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" and press "Enter", then log in the PC as administrator.

Step 3. When the Command Prompt window pop out, type "rstrui.exe" and press "Enter".

Step 4. Then follow the wizard to restore the Windows 7 laptop.

An excellent PC eraser: Erase laptop data on Windows 7

If you think the mentioned methods are difficult for you, how to erase all data on laptop on Windows 7 easily? Here, you can try a much easier disk managing expert- AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. It supports most Windows OS, including Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

In a beautiful interface, this powerful disk eraser can wipe your Windows 7 laptop with a few steps. According to the different conditions, you can use different functions to wipe the target laptop:

Wipe Hard Drive: If your laptop is installed the HDD, this function can help you with 4 methods, including Fill sectors with random data, DoD 5220.22-M, Gutmann and Fill sectors with Zero. Secure SSD Erase: If the laptop is installed SSD, you can safely erase it with this function.

Apart from erasing the Windows laptop, you can get the benefits from this almighty software, such as Disk Clone Wizard, App Mover, NTFS to FAT32 Converter, Recover Data, etc.

Let's see how to delete everything on laptop in Windows 7.

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► Case 1. How to wipe HDD on Windows 7 laptop

When your laptop installs HDD, you can use the "Wipe Hard Drive" to wipe all data from it.

Step 1. Download and run AOMEI Partition Assistant, then right-click the hard drive and click "Wipe Hard Drive".

Step 2. Tick "Fill sectors with random data" and click "OK".

Step 3. Then click "Apply" to start to wipe your Windows 7 laptop.

► Case 2. How to erase SSD on Windows 7 laptop

Since the SSD and HDD are two different storage devices, the configuration of SSD is distinguished from the HDD. If you wipe the SSD with the former method, the lifespan of the SSD will shorten. You can erase the laptop with SSD via "SSD Secure Erase".

Step 1. In the main interface, click "Wipe" on the top bar and click "SSD Secure Erase".

Step 2. In the small window, click the SSD and click "Next".

Step 3. Then check the information of the selected SSD, click "Next".

Step 4. If you see the message below, you can re-plug the cable again and then click "OK".

Step 5. When the operation over, click "Finish".

✌ Bonus reading: How to wipe a laptop including OS?

When you want to erase a laptop with the OS, you can follow the steps below to create bootable USB:

Step 1. Click "Make Bootable Wizard" under "Tools", then read the pop out message and click "Next". This tool will automatically detect if there's Windows AIK installed on the OS. If not, please install Windows AIK in advance.

Step 2. Select "USB Boot Device" and click "Proceed". 

Step 3. The target USB will be formatted, all the data on it will be delete, so please backup important data in advance.

Step 4. Wait patient, it is creating the bootable media. When the task is completed, click "Finish".

Step 5. Then you need to boot from the Windows PE USB, please change the boot drive.

Final line

How to erase all data on laptop in Windows 7? Before abandoning the laptop, it's important to wipe. So in this post, you can find out three methods, if you want to easily wipe the target laptop, the AOMEI Partition Assistant can be the most suitable partner.

In addition, there's the additional Server Edition, if you want to manage the disk in Windows Server, download this version is once and for all.