Nuke and pave

"Nuke and pave" is a slang term used by computer technicians to indicate the complete deletion of a hard drive, followed by the reinstallation of an operating system. Rather than fixing what was already installed on the computer, the system is "nuked" (i.e., the hard drive is reformatted or initialized) and a new operating system is "paved" over it.

"Nuke and pave" is also occasionally used to refer to replacing specific components of operating systems, such as a TCP stack or a batch of registry files.

While a CDROM with a functional operating system is typically used to "nuke" the hard drive, sometimes other programs such as Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) are used.

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The phrase may derive from Ronald Reagan, who said on 10 October 1965, "It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking strips on it, and still be home by Christmas." Reagan further advocated use of nuclear weapons against North Vietnam.

It probably was popularized as computer slang circa 1995 when Bungie Software titled a level "Nuke and Pave" in their game .