If the laptop is on windows 8, 8.1, or 10, hold down the shift button while you click the restart button from the start menu and let go of the shift key after you see the scrolling wheel saying "Please wait...." Then you will have some options on a blue menu, the bottom one should say "Advanced options" which you should click on. Then click on reset and follow the on screen prompts.
If you aren't on Windows 8 or above, try downloading JV16 power tools and running their "Decrapifier" which deletes non-factory default apps and programs. After that, you can just delete your pictures/music/videos and run CCleaner's wipe free disk space option if you are worried about someone recovering your files.