How to clean hard drive before donating computer

[Mary]

I have an almost three year old computer that I want to clean up before I
dontate it. It runs on Windows XP Home for which I have a recovery disk. So
far I've deleted all the data files and some software such as Turbotax and
Quicken but I know there must be password files stored in there somewhere
and other personal information.

I don't necessarily want to scrub it clean but would like to remove as much
personal information from it as can easily be done. Last night I thought I
would reinstall Windows so I went into the BIOS and changed the boot order
to (1) floppy (2) CD (3) hard drive. Then I booted from the recovery CD and
chose "install Windows XP." But I got an error message "you chose to install
WinXP on a partition that contains another OS. Installing WinXP on this
partition might cause the OS to function improperly." At that stage I backed
up ... so now I'm here wondering if someone can give me advice on what to
do.

I thought the recovery CD might have an option on there to restore the
computer to its factory settings. I know I could just pull out the harddrive
but the charity I donate to just want working computers.

 

[Michael Stevens]

I have an almost three year old computer that I want to clean up
before I dontate it. It runs on Windows XP Home for which I have a
recovery disk. So far I've deleted all the data files and some
software such as Turbotax and Quicken but I know there must be
password files stored in there somewhere and other personal
information.
I don't necessarily want to scrub it clean but would like to remove
as much personal information from it as can easily be done. Last
night I thought I would reinstall Windows so I went into the BIOS and
changed the boot order to (1) floppy (2) CD (3) hard drive. Then I
booted from the recovery CD and chose "install Windows XP." But I got
an error message "you chose to install WinXP on a partition that
contains another OS. Installing WinXP on this partition might cause
the OS to function improperly." At that stage I backed up ... so now
I'm here wondering if someone can give me advice on what to do.

I thought the recovery CD might have an option on there to restore the
computer to its factory settings. I know I could just pull out the
harddrive but the charity I donate to just want working computers.

Running the restore disk should be enough, as they usually reimage the hard
drive and put it back to original shipped state. If you want to be really
sure, do a Google search for secure format or similar and run a utility that
writes 1 & 0 to the drive. Run it a few times to make recovery of any data
difficult to impossible.
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Ross Durie]

If the CD has a Microsoft logo on it then it is a Microsoft Windows XP CD
(operating system only) and NOT a recovery CD. Recovery CDs are produced by
large OEMs like Compaq and HP to restore ALL software back to original
state.

 

[RJK]

....execpt for the ones where all hardware has to be "as was."
I've come across a couple of older Packard Bells where the factory
restore/reset wouldn't work because hardware had been added or changed.

regards, Richard

 

[Mary]

No, it's not a standard Microsoft CD -- no hologram although it does say
Copyright Microsoft Corp. It's a "Magnell Recovery CD" -- with the blurb "
the software included on this recovery CD-ROM was pre-installed on your hard
drive at the factory and may only be used for backup and recovery of your
Magnell Associates, Inc. computer system ..."

I think the only hardware change I made to the computer was the addition of
extra memory, other than adding external hardware such as printers, scanner
and I'm guessing that stuff doesn't matter.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

To protect your personal information and data from any future
users of average skills, you should, at the very least, format the
hard drive and reinstall only the OS and those applications whose
licenses you are selling along with the computer. If you wish to do a
more thorough job of protecting your personal data, WipeDrive 2.2.1
(http://www.accessdata.com/Product07_Overview.htm?ProductNum=07) meets
U.S. DoD standards for securely cleaning surplus unclassified hard
drives, and could be used before formatting and reinstalling the OS
and applications.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH

 

[Mary]

OK, as Bruce suggested, I would like to reformat and then reinstall Windows
XP. Could someone tell me how to do that? Do I just right click Drive C and
choose Format, then quick format? How long might I expect this to take on a
111 GB harddrive, 16 GB used -- would it be a matter of minutes or hours?

Also I'm worried that I might reformat C: only to find that the computer
won't boot from the CD drive to allow me to reinstall Windows.

 

[Malke]

OK, as Bruce suggested, I would like to reformat and then reinstall
Windows XP. Could someone tell me how to do that? Do I just right
click Drive C and choose Format, then quick format? How long might I
expect this to take on a 111 GB harddrive, 16 GB used -- would it be a
matter of minutes or hours?

Just boot with the Recovery CD you got with your computer. You didn't
say what make it is (Gateway, HP, etc.) but the Recovery CD should put
everything back to factory condition. If it is really a full version of
XP instead, follow the directions here:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install

A clean install of XP should take about an hour or less.

Malke

 

[Mary]

Hi Malke:
I forgot to say it is an ABS Computer. I booted from the CD and followed the
directions in the link you provided -- thank you for that, it was very
helpful. I've reached the Activate/Register screen and I'm not sure what to
do there. Should I choose register now? If I do that, will the online
registration attempt be unsucessful as this same verison of WinXP was
registered already on this computer? Or choose No, and have new owner
continually pestered with reminders to register?
Mary

 

[Malke]

Hi Malke:
I forgot to say it is an ABS Computer. I booted from the CD and
followed the directions in the link you provided -- thank you for
that, it was very helpful. I've reached the Activate/Register screen
and I'm not sure what to do there. Should I choose register now? If I
do that, will the online registration attempt be unsucessful as this
same verison of WinXP was registered already on this computer? Or
choose No, and have new owner continually pestered with reminders to
register? Mary

Is the Activate/Register for XP? You don't ever need to register with
Microsoft, but the computer does need to be activated within 30 days. I
would activate it and if activation by phone call is needed, this is no
big deal. Just call the toll-free number provided and tell them what
you are doing. There will be no problem and it is very easy. Make sure
to also give all the software, including XP, to the donee along with
the computer.

Malke

 

[NobodyMan]

Is the Activate/Register for XP? You don't ever need to register with
Microsoft, but the computer does need to be activated within 30 days. I
would activate it and if activation by phone call is needed, this is no
big deal. Just call the toll-free number provided and tell them what
you are doing. There will be no problem and it is very easy. Make sure
to also give all the software, including XP, to the donee along with
the computer.

Malke

I disagree. If the OP is getting rid of this computer by donating it
to somewhere, I would let the new owner do the activation. Then it
will be activated in THEIR name and not the name of the OP.

 

[Malke]

I disagree. If the OP is getting rid of this computer by donating it
to somewhere, I would let the new owner do the activation. Then it
will be activated in THEIR name and not the name of the OP.

Whatever. It's been a while since I activated anyone else's computer,
but I don't remember a name being associated with the activation. She's
going to have to have at least one user account set up during the
installation anyway, and could make it something generic like "Owner".
Of course, if she knows the new owner's name, she could always put that
in as the user account and that would take care of any problems.

Malke

 

[Ron Bogart]

In

I disagree. If the OP is getting rid of this computer by donating it
to somewhere, I would let the new owner do the activation. Then it
will be activated in THEIR name and not the name of the OP.

Activation doesn't use a name - only *Registration* does this.

 

[Mary]

Thanks again Malke, I was confused between registering and activating. My
reluctance to do so was partly that I figured MS would then have my name
attached to the reg/act and that might create a problem for a new owner.
I've now activated Windows XP which I was able to do online -- again I
thought a phone call would be necessary for a reinstall.

I'm very happy with the "new slate" state of the computer. Windows now
launches so quickly unhampered down by all the unnecessary stuff that did
launch at startup. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Malke]

Thanks again Malke, I was confused between registering and activating.
My reluctance to do so was partly that I figured MS would then have my
name attached to the reg/act and that might create a problem for a new
owner. I've now activated Windows XP which I was able to do online --
again I thought a phone call would be necessary for a reinstall.

I'm very happy with the "new slate" state of the computer. Windows now
launches so quickly unhampered down by all the unnecessary stuff that
did launch at startup. Thanks for all your help.

You're entirely welcome. Thanks for letting me know things are all OK
now.

Malke