Trying to reset my hp Pavillion notebook with reset error

[Hipfire1189]

I have a laptop a buddy gave me and I've tried to reset it and wipe it clean but it gives me an error every time I do, is there a way to whipe if through the command prompt?

[WAWood]

You're confusing two very different activities.

A factory reset only reformats the drive, it does not WIPE it.  Reformatting hides the files from Windows but does not remove them. This is sufficient if this is your PC and you only want to reinstall Windows on it.

WIPING a drive involves doing a Secure Erase -- which uses a special application to cover the entire drive with ones and zeroes, essentially blanking it out.  This requires special software to do.