Buying new computer - how do you wipe it clean of all installed software?

[Ron Obvious]

2. I'm not entirely sure I understand your problem

Since you have the OEM Windows disk, there's nothing stopping you from reformatting your drives and installing a fresh copy of Windows. You'd probably have to reinstall some drivers from the manufacturer, but that's still preferable to dealing with all the crapware, trial versions, and adware the typical manufacturers leave on new Windows machines. For the record, this is what I've always done with new laptops and desktops that I didn't build myself.

If you're worried about spyware hiding out in the bootsector or something, you could delete the partition(s) and do a low-level format, but this is the kind of thing people tend to worry about when selling a machine and they don't want to leave anything behind for other people to find. A fresh installation will create the partitions you need.

One problem I've heard about is that the new Windows systems require a GPT type of partition table and not the old Master Boot Record (MBR) when installing a new system and that the error messages in that case will be pretty opaque if you don't have that.

Of course, make a listing of the activation and licensing codes of your installed software before reformatting so you can use that on your new OEM installation.

Let me know if I didn't answer the right question.