I Need to Clean Up an Old Computer to Give it Away

[jamesmcnee]

I have a Sony PC running XP that I am getting rid of.

I don't expect to sell it but even taking it to school or the Goodwill
I want to securely clean all my data off the hard drives.

What advice do people have about formatting / those programs to wipe
disks / ...

How do you clean everything off while still running the OS?

An advice for a pretty basic user would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?_db_=B4=AF`=B7.._=3E=3C=29=29=29=BA]

remove the harddrive
and save it or you can
install it as a slave on
your new system or buy
a case for it and use
it as an external harddrive.

then give the rest of it
away to goodwill or something.

however, there is a saying
that if the pc is not worth
giving to your best friend
or family, then don't give
it away to a charity either.

it's one thing to give away
junk and another to give
away crap which is what
outdated electronics are.


--

<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

..

 

[peter]

You need a program that will not only wipe you HD but also overwrite the
drive with 0............
http://www.webmasterfree.com/Hard_Disk_Scrubber_2.0_d1472.html

and here is an article on how
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,110338/article.html

peter

 

[Guest]

Use it as a media center server

 

[smlunatick]

I have a Sony PC running XP that I am getting rid of.

I don't expect to sell it but even taking it to school or the Goodwill
I want to securely clean all my data off the hard drives.

What advice do people have about formatting / those programs to wipe
disks / ...

How do you clean everything off while still running the OS?

An advice for a pretty basic user would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Locate and run Eraser and re-install the OS.

 

[Phisherman]

I have a Sony PC running XP that I am getting rid of.

I don't expect to sell it but even taking it to school or the Goodwill
I want to securely clean all my data off the hard drives.

What advice do people have about formatting / those programs to wipe
disks / ...

How do you clean everything off while still running the OS?

An advice for a pretty basic user would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Boot from the CD, fdisk and format the drive. Not 100% but it will
foil most hackers.

 

[Guest]

I believe what you were looking for was a way to preserve the windows
installation and also securely remove your data. if this is the case i am
afraid you are out of luck. Like previously stated, the only way to ensure
that your information has been compleatly erased is to do a "zero fill" on
your hard drive. this replaces all the information stored in the form of 1s
and 0s with all 0s, essentially empty. this process will also however remove
the operating system. If you do not feel comfortable removing the operating
system and re-installing you probably shouldent donate it at all (assuming
security is an issue)

 

[Guest]

http://www.download.com/Zilla-Data-Nuker/3000-2092_4-10320324.html

Delete what you want deleted; run Zilla; defrag drive. Wipes Recycle Bin/
empty space/etc, etc.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have a Sony PC running XP that I am getting rid of.

I don't expect to sell it but even taking it to school or the Goodwill
I want to securely clean all my data off the hard drives.

What advice do people have about formatting / those programs to wipe
disks / ...

How do you clean everything off while still running the OS?

An advice for a pretty basic user would be much appreciated.

Thanks

To protect your personal information and data from any future users
of average skills, you should, at the very least, format the hard drive.
You can do this using the original Installation CD. Simply boot from
the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the opportunity to delete,
create, and format partitions as part of the installation process. (You
may need to re-arrange the order of boot devices in the PC's BIOS to
boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

If you wish to do a more thorough job of protecting your personal
data, WipeDrive
(http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php) 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

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