Page 1 of how to wipe a computer b4 taking back to the store?

I bought a medion desktop pc from Aldi recently, i`ve been using it for about a week to surf the internet etc. The hard drive is ridiculously noisy though and i can`t live with it so i`m going to have to take it back.
I was a bit worried about leaving any personal data on the machine though, so i just wondered if anyone could suggest precautionary steps i should take to wipe the data from the machine?
P.S. the operating system is windows vista, is there a simple restore to defaults setting?
Thanks.

most of these machines come with a factory restore disc, if so, just boot the pc with the disc inserted & follow the instructions.

Ogster`s idea is fine for trashing it so that the avergae person can`t get at your data., but if you`re really scared:
Darik`s boot and nuke
it is what army, police etc use so that confidential data doesn`t get in wrong hands.

Definately recommend Dariks Boot & Nuke.

Very easy to use it unpacks to a floppy & you use it to boot up, at the prompt type quick.

We use it in our place all the time. :)




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