Computer question

Danyal

Danyal

/Huh?
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I've had my desktop for a few years and after a bit decided it was time for a laptop. Haven't touched the desktop since... Had to replace a fan in it but it's otherwise in great condition. I want to sell it but I obviously need to erase the hard drive of anything personal. I took it to a mom and pop place to do this 1 time because I knew I needed it done. Through the years I accumulated so much crap I knew I had to clean it up. I paid 60$ for them to do this for me while leaving applications and things like music and pictures.

Here's my question. Instead of bringing it somewhere to have it done, can I do this myself easily? There's 2 reasons I ask... First, to save money. Second, and the more important reason, what if they miss something? What if the person uses the same bank online, they go to log in and my username and password fill in like it does for me.

Anyway... I did do a search online and it looks like you actually need software to do this... is this true for all cases? Or only for the purpose of backing things up. I just need to know... should I trust the same place I took it too? Or maybe take it to a chain like Best Buy or Comp USA.
 
Get a jumpdrive. 2gb drives are cheap, $30 or so. Buy it from a computer parts store as retail outlets (Future Shop, Best Buy, etc) charge through the nose for these.

Toss all your shit on the jumpdrive and move it to the laptop.

Once that's done your best bet is just to reformat the old computer. There's no point to leaving the applications on there. Pop in a Windows CD (ideally the same version of Windows that is installed on your old computer) and when you turn the computer on with the disc in the CD drive, it should say something like "Press any key to boot from CD...".

Do that, go through the installation process, and choose "Format this partition with NTFS". It's better to not use the Quick Format option.

You can't destroy anything other than the files so it's a good learning process.
 
Danyal said:
I've had my desktop for a few years and after a bit decided it was time for a laptop. Haven't touched the desktop since... Had to replace a fan in it but it's otherwise in great condition. I want to sell it but I obviously need to erase the hard drive of anything personal. I took it to a mom and pop place to do this 1 time because I knew I needed it done. Through the years I accumulated so much crap I knew I had to clean it up. I paid 60$ for them to do this for me while leaving applications and things like music and pictures.

Here's my question. Instead of bringing it somewhere to have it done, can I do this myself easily? There's 2 reasons I ask... First, to save money. Second, and the more important reason, what if they miss something? What if the person uses the same bank online, they go to log in and my username and password fill in like it does for me.

Anyway... I did do a search online and it looks like you actually need software to do this... is this true for all cases? Or only for the purpose of backing things up. I just need to know... should I trust the same place I took it too? Or maybe take it to a chain like Best Buy or Comp USA.
Click to expand...

Follow CmdrFly's advice.

And now I get to make you paranoid... unless you write 0's and 1's to the hard drive during those formats roughly 8 times, data can still be recovered via Electron Microscopy! The DoD is so concerned about potential data recovery they do not sell their PC's with the hard drives intact.

Your typical computer user won't ever go through the trouble to recover drives like that though. There are easier ways to gain access to your bank accounts. Just format it once (not the quick format) and go about your business.
 
If you're looking to sell the computer, I'd reload the OS so the next person has a fresh system to work with. This way, anything that isn't right with the system is their doing. ;)

When everything is all set, if you're paranoid, run BC Wipe and clear out the "white space" on the disk. This will remove the remnants of your deleted files. It's easy, it's free and will go more than the extra mile against the average data predator.

Information on BC Wipe can be found at http://www.jetico.com/
 
Damons Boot N Nuke can wipe your hard drive on the same level that military classified harddrives get wiped.

Its a floppy image, you stick it in, turn on computer, and run it on the highest setting.

It will take quite some time, but once its done you will never see any of your personal information again on that HD.
 
Tristam Green said:
who uses that shit anymore? pop that on a USB stick and boot from that :D
Click to expand...

Who uses that shit anymore? pop that on a firewire stick and boot from that :D
 
Elohim said:
Who uses that shit anymore? pop that on a firewire stick and boot from that :D
Click to expand...



lolfirewire


You can burn it on whatever you want. Even keep it on the network computer and just boot from network.
 
Elohim said:
Who uses that shit anymore? pop that on a firewire stick and boot from that :D
Click to expand...
firewire sticks? i was unaware of firewire anything aside from shitty network cables and AV cables?
 
Um, do you guys give computer advice often? Some of what was said is pointing you in the right direction, Danyal, but I think some people here need to Google a bit more or actually work with a computer before passing on advice.

Now, I understand your situation. You're concerned about your security. You'd be amazed how much personal information someone can gather about not just you, but your family, from something like an improperly handled hard drive, so I'm going to try and help you.

I have a friend, and I ran the situation by him, and he told me that it sounds like if you want to even sell it, there are some other things you should do, to make sure you don't get complaints later. First, your Hobbit, that turns the case fan, is depressed and needs therapy. You need to get a new Hobbit. He reccomended you get one from the Land Beyond Time. The Land Beyond Time can also hook you up with a new Unicorn for the motherboard. (I ain't even gonna tell you about formatting and exorcising that haunted hard drive yet.) The last thing, is your processor, that's made of plutonium. If you want to replace that before you sell it, that's going to involve Superman, so, you know, plus shipping from Krypton.

...

And the cow jumped over the moon. His estimate is $37,724. But you'll make a niiice profit, buddy.
 
Last edited:
Ryuhei said:
Um, do you guys give computer advice often? Some of what was said is pointing you in the right direction, Danyal, but I think some people here need to Google a bit more or actually work with a computer before passing on advice.

Now, I understand your situation. You're concerned about your security. You'd be amazed how much personal information someone can gather about not just you, but your family, from something like an improperly handled hard drive, so I'm going to try and help you.

I have a friend, and I ran the situation by him, and he told me that it sounds like if you want to even to sell it, there are some other things you should do, to make sure you don't get complaints later. First, your Hobbit, that turns the case fan, is depressed and needs therapy. You need to get a new Hobbit. He reccomended you get one from the Land Beyond Time. The Land Beyond Time can also hook you up with a new Unicorn for the motherboard. (I ain't even gonna tell you about formatting and exorcising that haunted hard drive yet.) The last thing, is your processor, that's made of plutonium. If you want to replace that before you sell it, that's going to involve Superman, so, you know, plus shipping from Krypton.

...

And the cow jumped over the moon. His estimate is $37,724. But you'll make a niiice profit, buddy.
Click to expand...

Is your friend on crack?
 
romperstomper said:
Is your friend on crack?
Click to expand...

Whatever he's on, I want that hobbit. I bet with a hobbit constantly blowing on my processor, I could over clock that bitch to 7 GHz stable.

Seriously though, reinstalling the OS and doing a Full Format (not the quick version) should be more than sufficient. If you're really worried, erase the full drive 1x writing 0's or 1's to everything, then a full format (NTFS) and install XP again.
 
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