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During a clean install, delete only partitions on the system drive (often labeled as Drive 0). Do not touch any other drive or partition. When all partitions on the system drive are deleted, the whole drive will be listed as "Unallocated Space." Select that space, then click Next to begin the installation.
This misunderstanding carries significant consequences. The most benign is anxiety: users fearing total data loss may postpone a much-needed system refresh. More dangerous is the false sense of security. Someone selling or donating a computer might assume a simple clean install has erased their personal files from all drives, when in fact a secondary drive or partition still holds tax returns, private photos, or browsing history. True data destruction requires specialized software (like DBAN for HDDs) or physical destruction of the drive—not a routine OS reinstallation. does clean install wipe all drives exclusive
This process involves booting from an external USB drive, deleting the existing operating system partition, and installing a fresh, unaltered version of the OS. It completely wipes the targeted drive (usually the C: drive) but leaves other physical drives untouched unless you manually format them.
To ensure that your secondary drives remain completely safe during a clean install, follow these best practices: 1. Create a Comprehensive Backup This public link is valid for 7 days
If you are nervous about clicking the wrong button, the safest method is to physically unplug the SATA or power cables from your secondary storage drives before you start. If the computer can't see the drive, it can't wipe it.
You must select the Custom/Advanced option to control which drives are touched. Can’t copy the link right now
If you want, tell me which OS installer you're using (Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, etc.) and whether you have multiple drives; I’ll give step-by-step instructions for a safe clean install in that environment.
A clean installation of an operating system does not automatically wipe all connected drives unless you explicitly tell it to do so. It primarily targets the specific drive or partition you select for the installation, leaving secondary storage drives untouched. However, user error during the setup process can accidentally lead to total data loss across all drives.