Selling computers and removing all personal details

Messages 1 to 3 of 3.

Selling computers and removing all personal details
17 August 2008, 2:47 PM

garretsuze61
Joined 17 Aug 2008
1 posts

Hi! Another Newbie here!

Does anyone know how to make sure that all your personal detals, files and settings are removed from a computer of laptop, before you sell it on to someone else, without losing the operating system? I know one sure way is to reformat the hard drive but then you lose all your drivers and stuff.

Or if anyone knows of a website that can help with this problem, that would be awesome.

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Selling computers and removing all personal details
19 August 2008, 3:24 AM

Spearmint
Joined 22 Jan 2008
132 posts

If you are selling to a total stranger some say not even an HD clean and reformat will remove all traces of personal info and there a programs people can get online to extract this data. My OH always sells them on or gives them away without a HD as most people have their own HD's to transfer or prefer a new one. We always destroy the HD's, hammering one thats gave you hrs of problems during a previous reformat in the past is so satisfying lol.

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Selling computers and removing all personal details
19 August 2008, 1:57 PM

Charlie
Joined 23 Feb 2007
81 posts

Hello. The quickest and easiest way to do it is to use the restore disk(s) that came with the laptop. This will leave the computer as it was when it was bought, but all updates of the operating system will be lost as will any drivers that may have been added for printers etc. As has been mentioned, it is still possible to retrieve old files if you know what you are doing. But if you use an overwriting program you can overwrite the free space on the disk as many times as you like.
As long as you haven't visited any websites you shouldn't and haven't got any bank details or blackmail letters on your computer I wouldn't worry!

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