How to Wipe a Gateway Computer Hard Drive

Wiping a Gateway hard drive can be done with software you may already own and don’t even know it. Most Gateway computer systems come with two CD ROMs: a Gateway Restoration CD and an Operating System Backup CD. The article below will tell you how to use the software. If you don’t have this equipment, visit a Gateway computer store to purchase this software or a substitute that will also allow you to wipe a Gateway hard drive.

Ensure that you have the Gateway Restoration CD that came with your Gateway computer. If you don’t, it can be purchased from a Gateway computer store. You’ll need this CD to help wipe your hard drive.

Back up anything you want to keep by saving it onto a flash drive or writable CD or DVD. When you wipe a Gateway computer hard drive, you will lose all your files, photos and music that you have saved on your computer. Open the window of the files that you don't want to lose, and place your flash drive in a USB port. A new window for the flash drive will open. Highlight the files that you want to save, and drag them over onto the window for the flash drive. Once you have saved all the files that you want saved, remove the flash drive from the USB port.

Insert the Gateway Restoration CD and close your computer tray. Restart your computer. Shut it down, then boot it back up. A box will appear and tell you what to do.

Follow all instructions very carefully. Click on "System Restore" to wipe your Gateway computer hard drive. Click "Yes, I am sure" when the window asks to verify this decision. Wait for the process to complete, this can take up to an hour. When it is complete, a window pops up asking you whether you would like to restart your computer. Click "Yes."

Place the flash drive with all your files back into the USB port once the system restore is complete. A new window will open with all your files. Highlight all the files on your flash drive and drag them onto your computer. You now have saved all the files that you had before wiping your Gateway computer hard drive.