text: how do i delete all the content of my hard drive without actually destroying it? i'm selling an old p4 desktop and i want to delete the entire content of my hard drive and make all information unrecoverable. i know a few ways to destroy the hard drive with software but i was hoping to keep the hdd intact since my buyer wants a fully operational computer. any suggestions.  p.s.- i have the xp reinstall disk which reformats the hdd. you have all the things you need...  you would have to re-install windows from the boot menu... when you restart ur pc w/ the win xp cd in already.. u are usually asked to hit a button to boot from the cd..  after that follow the directions until it shows you the drives menu..  from there will say something like - delete partitions and then it will format your hard drive... it will delete absolutely everything  after that it will finish installing windows..  but make sure you pressed l or some other letter on the menu to delete the partiion..