Filed under: Clean Up Computer
I'm selling a computer I no longer use. How do I clean up the hard drive, defrag, for new user?
May 4, 2010
10 thoughts on “I'm selling a computer I no longer use. How do I clean up the hard drive, defrag, for new user?”
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When you format or delete your disk they only reallocate the space occupied by a file to be used by another.
Best is to call in an expert and tell them to degauze it. THey will magnetically delete all the files to leave it slate clean.
If you can just reinstall your operating system first format the entire Hard disk and clean install the operating system such as Windows Xp .If you would like to keep the operating systems andd data on the system untouched and only want to wipe your personal information just do one thing goto internet explorer then >tools>internet options and in general tab click clear history and clear cookies then delete all info in your
Documents and aettings folder( IN WIN xp) or my documents folder and clear all files there
Boot with the Win XP cd follow the instructions dont repair press esc at that time then delete the partitions and then create them again and install Win xp agin it will be a clean install with any of ur data in the PC
Format the entire harddisk and delete the partitions and recreate them
clean installs and formats do not wipe away sensitive data that can be recovered. yes even formatted drives. you need to download or buy something like sureclean from whitecanyon or something like it. it seems to be the best and i have tried a lot. it is amazing what you will find.
Use a program called DM(disk manager) .its a microsoft’s product and it will do everything for you..
the best thing is to use the recovery that came with it, it will restore it to new like condition
Put in your XP cd and do a clean install. Put the cd and restart
When asked select the option to partition the hard drive. Once partitioned it will delete all the data. Reinstall XP and you’ll be set. A nice clean computer
load open office on it
http://www.google.com/search?btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky&q=open+office
Format your hard disk
Formatting would be your best bet. Though there are certain commercial softwares which do this for you and then rewrite junk on the drive so that all previous info is lost but since nothing important is there a simple reformat would do. In order to do it you would have to boot into the command prompt. if you are using a certain brand like Dell or HP they have system restore which allows you to reset your computer to the day you bought it thus in effect starting out on a clean slate for any new user.
I would personally recommend this(provided of course you have this feature)
Check out the link on Cnet about deleting data, it also has some links for softwares which will help you erase your HardDisk.