Yes, it is possible to erase or reset an OS drive without installing Windows afterward.
Yes, it is possible to erase or reset an OS drive without installing Windows afterward.
Hey everyone. In short, I have an M.2 drive with windows already installed and nothing else. It’s the main OS drive. I want to fully clear it out. Using recovery mode won’t help because it always reinstalls Windows. I don’t have another drive to install Windows on, so I only have this M.2 drive with Windows installed and a bootable USB. Can anyone suggest a way to completely erase the OS without reinstalling Windows? I really need to do this right. Thanks!
Well....that "reason" is maybe significant.
But, if you remove everything from that drive, there is no more "Windows".
No OS, nothing to boot from.
You can. if you want, reformat that drive completely, in the process of a full fresh OS installation.
But reading through that whole post, twice....what you want to achieve is still unclear.
Well, that is my question basically. I can't format it the easy way no, it is my OS drive. OS won't allow me to format itself.
Tell us what you need the final result to look like, and we can likely guide you there.
Yes, I understand there are more windows involved, which is exactly what I need. I didn't mention it. The reason is so people won't focus on the real solution and instead ask about the obvious part. The rest of the process is within my control. I just need to clear that drive completely, including all windows. THAT is what I'm aiming for.
The goal is to have a completely empty drive. Everything needed to achieve this was explained, but the full details are being shared now. A specialist restored all of my data from a physically damaged drive and could recreate it on a fresh one. At first he said he couldn’t do it, so I replaced the drive with a new one and installed Windows, but now he claims he can. Since formatting isn’t an option, I’ll have to prepare the disk myself. I just need to understand how to erase the disk properly.
I have an installation flash drive ready to boot from, but it only works for installing Windows. Or is there a method to erase a drive from there?
To be honest, the only option seems to be wiping the drive completely. I've been working on this for two weeks, trying to save time and avoid explaining everything that offers little help.
If you're curious, I shared the whole situation with another user above.
Thank you