Anyone know of a free shreader. I want to re-load windows on a clean slate ?

just format the drive at the start of the re-load.

Unless you have highly sensitive data on the drive, a format should be more than enough.

windows install gives you the option to format right near the beginning. Instructions depend on what version of windows you are loading.

Darik to the rescue!

"Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction."

"DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spyware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis."

Instructions are pretty self-explanatory at the website.

Free at:

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

Here is a good file shredder:

http://download.cnet.com/File-Shredder/3000-2144_4...

But are you sure that this is going to work?

To use it, just right click wherever you want to delete, and click file shredder, and shred files.

But to use the file shredder at first, you must open it up. And to make file shredding easier, in settings, make the algorithims to a simple one-pass.

Good luck, and I hope this helps