Best way to wipe an old Pavillion to give away?

I was told I could just re-partition the hard drive and reformat, and that would be enough. Somehow, if it were that easy, people would not have wipers for sale. hmmm? What do you suggest?

Repartitioning and reformatting will keep 99% of the people from seeing what was previously on your hard disks - but they aren't the ones to worry about. So whenever you get rid of a hard drive you should wipe it clean. Eraser is well liked, and the price is right.

Thanks, now for the real question… The ME is not connected to the "interweb" and so I'll need some help on the best way to get it SAFELY from my really nice XP, which I don't want wiped at all, to the ME. I don't want to even risk it without some handholding, so I'm content to wait for your reply after you have dealt with more urgent requests. (my kid told me to do that )

O_o Never mind! The FAQ was enough to quell the fears. Thanks for all the help!

Good luck.