How do I clean up my computer before selling it?
And I don’t mean dusting it off. How do I clean it up by erasing personal information (such as account numbers, risque pics of my girlfriend, and so on) before selling it? Thanks for your help.
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Tagged with: account numbers • pics of my girlfriend • thanks for your help
Filed under: Clean Up Computer
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You need to Format the hard drive 4 times. that should do it. but first send me the pics of your girlfriend. (ha ha just kidding).
Check out this blog post: http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=129
The best way to erase your data is to use a program that writes to every single sector of the hard-drive multiple times (5+). This can be very time consuming if you have a slow computer and/or large hard-drive, but if you have very personal data, do it.
The ‘SRD’ (system recovery disk) will re-install the OS to factory shipped parameters.
Be aware that a single ‘overwrite’ (as a ‘format’ would provide) is inadequate for a secure transfer of a hard drive.
Residual magnetic data can be recovered from the drive if it’s not overwritten at least 5-7 times.
"Dariks Boot and Nuke (DBAN)" runs from a bootable CD or Floppy disk, and securely deletes (wipes) the entire content of the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect. The program is perfect for cleaning a computer before giving it away or selling it. You will download an ISO file, that needs to be burned to a CD.
http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/security/fwerase.html
Darik to the rescue!
"Darik’s Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction."
"DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spyware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis."
Just remember, this will totally erase your operating system, and all your data too…everything. Windows will need to be re-installed.
Free at:
http://dban.sourceforge.net/