Selling my laptop, how to erase my files???

[speedy king]

I'm selling my Windows XP Laptop and i need to erase all my accounts, files etc but keep XP saved on to it as software. Any nifty quick button i configuration i can use??

Thankyou! :)

[Magnus]

isn´t the easiest to format c and enclose the xp on a cd?

[MrJan]

I see, too many dirty pictures on it are there? ;) :p :

If you've got XP on disc you could always re-install it, takes blooming ages though. Be warned though, the last time I tried re-installing windows the computer forgot which graphics card it was using and reverted to the settings you get when it's in safe mode. This was largely due to my technical ineptitude though.

I'm sure there'll be a better way to do it, you just need someone with computer smarts to tell you how, sadly that person is not me :D

[Galveston dunes]

Try going to all files and look for system restore. It will give you a calendar and you can click on the date before you opened your files and after the date in which you purchased your windows.I'm not a comp. whiz and don't know about clearing hard drives other than the afore mentioned/ saving to disc and rebooting but you may get some feedback from someone here about what i just posted.If i'm wrong I apologize.

[Daniel]

I'm selling my Windows XP Laptop and i need to erase all my accounts, files etc but keep XP saved on to it as software. Any nifty quick button i configuration i can use??

Thankyou! :)
Do you not have the system restore disc?

[veeten]

The first thing is that you want to make sure you have the laptop's restore disk(s), so that you can reinstall the original OS on the cleaned hard drive, and return the laptop to its initial state as it left the factory.

Second, either use the diagnostic tools that the hard drive manufacturer provides ( Seagate/Maxtor, Western Digital, Toshiba, etc.), or go with erasing software that will permanently remove all traces of the previous owner, allowing you the ability to reinstall the original OS cleanly and easily. There are several programs available, both proprietary and freeware, that are very effective in cleaning & restoring hard drives. Check the internet for several examples, as well as computer publications (PC Mag, PC World, etc.).

Third, never use any Windows, Mac, or other OS as a hard drive eraser/restorer. While they have some ability to format a hard drive, orphaned files can be reintroduced into the new install, making matters worse. Save the OS for what it is intended for.

Passing on personal experience on this matter, and hope it helps. :)

[J4MIE]

You need, as veeten says, to get some software that will securely erase your files.

Even if you format your hard drive, you can still recover files from it!

I think my dad had some software called SecureErase or something, but that's the direction you need to go in so that your files can never be seen again...

So then you re-install windows after you have done that.

[Magnus]

****, I thought formatting c was rewriting he clusters at the same time, thus definetaly erasing any info... Hmm, my mistake...

[tinchote]

****, I thought formatting c was rewriting he clusters at the same time, thus definetaly erasing any info... Hmm, my mistake...


Not really, on an already formatted disk, most format programs just mark the disk as empty, but do not really re-write any data. The reason is simple: it takes a long time to "low-format" a hard disk.

[thike]

The action to delete files, or at least prevent access to them, really depends on the level of 'interest' they may contain. I have just completed a project which included replacing all the PC's and the client has had all the hard drives removed from the old PC's and drilled through to prevent any access.

Basically, it is possible for people with the know how to get information from formatted drives and ones that have had other security programmes run to erase files. Obviously, this is something that generally only determined people would tend to do e.g. the police, security services, or some determined hackers, so you're probably ok in most cases with a good programme that overwrites everything a few times. Thing is, even if you sell on to someone you trust, they may sell it on again at some point, so you never know where it may end up - hackers have been known to buy old machines just to see what old information they can find on there.

As I work in the industry and I see what some of the techies can do, personally I would not sell on a machine if I have used it for anything that someone may be interested in, such as online banking, buying online, other passwords etc. Problem is, that like most people, I use my machines for most of these, so they probably have lots of personal information on them in various places.

Although some people may think it over the top, personally I would remove the hard drive and trash it before disposing of it and, if it was a machine worth selling on, replace the drive and reload the OS from the original discs. That's the only way I would be happy to ensure that none of my personal information could be retrieved.

[Daniel]

The action to delete files, or at least prevent access to them, really depends on the level of 'interest' they may contain. I have just completed a project which included replacing all the PC's and the client has had all the hard drives removed from the old PC's and drilled through to prevent any access.

Basically, it is possible for people with the know how to get information from formatted drives and ones that have had other security programmes run to erase files. Obviously, this is something that generally only determined people would tend to do e.g. the police, security services, or some determined hackers, so you're probably ok in most cases with a good programme that overwrites everything a few times. Thing is, even if you sell on to someone you trust, they may sell it on again at some point, so you never know where it may end up - hackers have been known to buy old machines just to see what old information they can find on there.

As I work in the industry and I see what some of the techies can do, personally I would not sell on a machine if I have used it for anything that someone may be interested in, such as online banking, buying online, other passwords etc. Problem is, that like most people, I use my machines for most of these, so they probably have lots of personal information on them in various places.

Although some people may think it over the top, personally I would remove the hard drive and trash it before disposing of it and, if it was a machine worth selling on, replace the drive and reload the OS from the original discs. That's the only way I would be happy to ensure that none of my personal information could be retrieved.

Very much over the top :)

Here's an article you should read :)

http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/15/how-to-erase-old-hard-disks/

Things like your banking passwords aren't usually stored on your PC. A repeated low level format will ensure that no one this side of the CIA will have the time and patience to spend the time on the drive that it would require to get the data off.

At work we drilled a couple of hundred hard drives from one of our clients though to be fair they're a large oil company and they can afford to throw away thousands of dollars just to make sure their data is secure. I see that as a waste and most people don't have anything that sensitive.

All of this is useless however if you don't have the restore disk for the laptop or an XP disk with a valid licence. Just remember you can't use the licence for your laptop with a normal XP disk ;) You don't want to give someone personal data but if you format your hard drive and don't have an operating system your laptop will be useless :mark:

[Wilderness]

Spybot has a file shredder tool. You can drag files/folders to it and tell it to write over the sectors they occupy several times (I think default is 5 or 6 times). It will "let" you write over 100 times if you want but that will just lock up the computer (a co-worker tried that... :D )

[Spoonbender]

In XP; log on as the administrator, then go to Control panel, User accounts, then simply delete all the users. When it asks if you want to keep the user files, say NO
Is it XP Home or XP Proffesional ? there are different ways of logging on as administrator!

[tinchote]

Basically, it is possible for people with the know how to get information from formatted drives and ones that have had other security programmes run to erase files. Obviously, this is something that generally only determined people would tend to do e.g. the police, security services, or some determined hackers, so you're probably ok in most cases with a good programme that overwrites everything a few times.

I've always found that a little hard to believe. I know HDs have some redundancy, but how much? If you have a 100GB disk, full of info. You write another 100GB (overwriting the previous info), and you claim that the original 100GB are recoverable? That means that the disk can store 200GB. I just find too inefficient to be true.

[Daniel]

In XP; log on as the administrator, then go to Control panel, User accounts, then simply delete all the users. When it asks if you want to keep the user files, say NO
Is it XP Home or XP Proffesional ? there are different ways of logging on as administrator!
That's pure rubbish :) If you just delete a user anyone who knows anything could easily recover that data could get it back......

All that does is erase info about those files on the file allocation table. The files are still there for anyone who cares to try and get them.

[Daniel]

I've always found that a little hard to believe. I know HDs have some redundancy, but how much? If you have a 100GB disk, full of info. You write another 100GB (overwriting the previous info), and you claim that the original 100GB are recoverable? That means that the disk can store 200GB. I just find too inefficient to be true.

Tinchote, basically the theory what happens is this. Say you have 8 bits of data like so

10111001

And you overwrite the 1's with 0's. So it's like this

00000000

The 0's which were previously 1's will have a weaker magnetic signal as a 0 than the 0's which were 0's. There is software available that can see these slight differences and possibly recover data from it.

[Spoonbender]

That's pure rubbish :) If you just delete a user anyone who knows anything could easily recover that data could get it back......

All that does is erase info about those files on the file allocation table. The files are still there for anyone who cares to try and get them.

Wow, I bow to your superior knowledge Bill. Just trying to help, won't bother next time :(

[tinchote]

Tinchote, basically the theory what happens is this. Say you have 8 bits of data like so

10111001

And you overwrite the 1's with 0's. So it's like this

00000000

The 0's which were previously 1's will have a weaker magnetic signal as a 0 than the 0's which were 0's. There is software available that can see these slight differences and possibly recover data from it.

Very reasonable.

In any case, writing all of the disk with 0 or 1 would avoid that problem. My guess is that it is something that is theoretically possible in an ideal situation, but has little practical value.

[Daniel]

Very reasonable.

In any case, writing all of the disk with 0 or 1 would avoid that problem. My guess is that it is something that is theoretically possible in an ideal situation, but has little practical value.
To do it securely and properly it must be done a few times so that the traces of old 0's and 1's can't be read. Believe me it can be done though. I remember a rather panicked network admin needing data from some hard drives he's "securely" erased and the company I used to work for got most of it back. Costs you though and takes time. As long as you make it difficult someone will just move on to the next hard drive they bought and work on that :)

Spoonbender. I wasn't trying to be rude. Imagine if I told you that it was OK to put petrol in your diesel if nothing else was available and that it would do no damage and you were left with a rather large bill to fix the damage. Now imagine I said just delete your user profiles and someone bought your laptop and got your personal details off it and managed to identity theft you and run up a bill for thousands ;)