Reset computer

[duckdove]

I have recently purchased a new computer and selling my old one to a friend.
I have transferred everything I want off of the old and onto the new. How do
I now clear the old of everything?

 

[philo]

I have recently purchased a new computer and selling my old one to a friend.
I have transferred everything I want off of the old and onto the new. How do
I now clear the old of everything?

Assuming your new machine came with the operating system already
installed...
then you might as well simply boot up your old machine with the XP cd (or
recovery cd) that hopefully came with it...
format the drive and perform a fresh install

 

[DL]

You destructively restore the o/s, then maybe use an app to write zeros to
the empty space, or if you want to be totally thorough you take a hammer to
the hd

 

[afbosch]

http://www.microsoft.com/australia/smallbusiness/issues/technology/protect/harddrive.mspx

Clean the Hard Drive Before Dumping Your PC



http://ask-leo.com/how_should_i_erase_my_hard_drive_before_i_give_it_away.html

How should I erase my hard drive before I give it away





also each make of hard d rive- has a tools that write zero on hard
drive makeing it impossable to get any info on it- as it over write any
date all really there

just find the make of hard drive you have and find the right tool

 

[Malke]

I have recently purchased a new computer and selling my old one to a friend.
I have transferred everything I want off of the old and onto the new. How do
I now clear the old of everything?

If you are also selling the operating system along with the computer,
the answer depends on the make of the computer.

1. If this is an OEM brand computer such as HP, use the Recovery process
from the hard drive (or physical Recovery Disks) to return the machine
to factory condition. Professional data recovery software would still be
able to get your data off the drive but perhaps since this is a friend
(who won't be doing this) it doesn't matter. In any case, if the
computer has the Recovery files on a special partition on the hard
drive, you would not want to run the wiping software. If you have
physical Recovery Disks, don't forget to give them to the buyer.

2. If #1 isn't applicable, then wipe the drive with a utility such as
the free Darik's Boot and Nuke or Acronis Disk Director (not free) and
then either reinstall Windows or just give the XP install disk (and any
driver disks for the computer) to the buyer so he can do the
installation himself.

3. If # isn't applicable and you have a retail version of XP which you
are *not* selling along with the computer, wipe the drive as in #2 and
make sure the buyer understands that he is *not* buying a computer with
an operating system installed and will need to purchase one himself (or
download a free Linux distro).


Malke

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

I have recently purchased a new computer and selling my old one to a
friend.
I have transferred everything I want off of the old and onto the
new. How do
I now clear the old of everything?

If you are just selling off the hardware and with no OS included with
it, wipe the hard disk(s).

www.killdisk.com

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have recently purchased a new computer and selling my old one to a friend.
I have transferred everything I want off of the old and onto the new. How do
I now clear the old of everything?

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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The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[WaIIy]

You destructively restore the o/s, then maybe use an app to write zeros to
the empty space, or if you want to be totally thorough you take a hammer to
the hd

That's good advice, maybe he could give the hammer to his friend after
the hard drive is smashed.

Then his friend could hit him over the head with it.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

also each make of hard d rive- has a tools that write zero on hard
drive makeing it impossable to get any info on it- as it over write any
date all really there

This is *not* correct. Such tools make it much harder to get data from
the drive, but not impossible. There is always a remnant of what was
written still present on the disk, and using sophisticated data
recovery techniques, a determined invader can sometimes recover it.
For that reason, the US government doesn't rely on any software
techniques to destroy really sensitive data, but physically melts the
drive in a furnace.

Of course few of us have to worry about "determined invaders," and
especially the OP, since he is selling the computer to a friend, not
an enemy. In his case, merely formatting the drive and reinstalling
Windows is almost certainly adequate.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

That's good advice,

Yes in fact it is, since physically destroying the platters is the *only*
way to be absolutely sure the data is irretrievable.

Simply writing zeros will not render data unrecoverable, though it may
render recovery beyond the abilities of the average user. That may not be
good enough to prevent liability.

maybe he could give the hammer to his friend after
the hard drive is smashed.

Then his friend could hit him over the head with it.

One would supply a new drive with the system.

Any drive that's been used in a context where confidential information has
been present, such as medical or financial offices, should be physically
destroyed. Wiping really isn't good enough, particularly given the
cheapness of drives these days.

HTH
-pk