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Erasing info on PC
jakem_2
Posts: 201 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
Hi, hope someone can give me some help and advice:)
I have a Dell desktop PC and the Dell hybrid which I want to sell as want a Laptop (will start another thread) but I need to know the easiest and in simple terms to erase all my info that has been stored, as when I come to sell it I dont want any of my personal info/details on it.
Many thanks in advance
I have a Dell desktop PC and the Dell hybrid which I want to sell as want a Laptop (will start another thread) but I need to know the easiest and in simple terms to erase all my info that has been stored, as when I come to sell it I dont want any of my personal info/details on it.
Many thanks in advance
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I'd use eraser - you can get this tool from snapfiles - sorry I cannot post a link because I'm a new user0
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sorry mate didn't see your post
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Just a word of warning:
I am not familiar with that particular tool but looking at the description from that link it sounds like it wipes total hard disks automatically and will therefore remove the operating system too. If you plan to sell it as a laptop with an operating system (windows XP, vista, 7 etc.) installed (it'll probably be worth more that way?) then check you have the install disk and product key to hand so you can reinstall that after you have 'nuked' the system.0 -
Yup!! dban will wipe the entire disk so you'll need to reinstall the Operating system afterwards.
The product key is usually on a sticker on the bottom or the laptop. or the side of the Desktop case.Laters
Sol
"Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"0 -
Take the hard drive out, and sell the laptop either without the hard drive, or buy a blank drive and sell it with the blank drive in place, advising buyers that they'll need to install their own OS
Keep the old hard drive. Use it as an external backup drive. Your data WILL be secure as long as you hold on to the drive.0 -
Thankyou all for taking the time to reply, but I really am a complete numpty and havent a clue, its a desktop am talking about, will be starting a new thread on advice about laptops, god help you all
Andy... what is the product key?
Solitaire.... side of the desktop case, do you mean the actual PC?
Googler.... how difficult is it to remove the hardrive and replace, and cant think what OS is, am sure once you say it I will go Ahhh.
Maybe I should get someone in to wipe or do all this for me, as I know I will not get to grips with it 0 -
If you have the Windows CD then the product key should be on the side of the PC Tower, though it could be on the CD case
Once you download the eraser of choice, eg dban, click the link next to Looking for the latest version?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/files/dban/
Save the file
If you have not got a programme to burn the ISO image file to a CD, you can use ImgBurn, the betanews link will do
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
Burn the file to a CD, leave it in the drive, then reboot and press (usually) DEL to enter set up, set the PC to boot from the CD Rom drive first, save the setting, usually the F10 key, confirm
Follow the onscreen instructions and leave it be while it erases the data on any hard drives on the PC, it could be a number of hours depending on the size of the hard drive(s)0 -
Thankyou all for taking the time to reply, but I really am a complete numpty and havent a clue, its a desktop am talking about, will be starting a new thread on advice about laptops, god help you all
Andy... what is the product key?
Solitaire.... side of the desktop case, do you mean the actual PC?
Googler.... how difficult is it to remove the hardrive and replace, and cant think what OS is, am sure once you say it I will go Ahhh.
Maybe I should get someone in to wipe or do all this for me, as I know I will not get to grips with it
Product key is a row of numbers and letters on a little sticker either on the PC case/tower/box or on the CD case that contains the Windows program
OS = operating system (i.e Windows)
Quite easy to remove the hard drive. However if you are as unfamilur with PC's as to not know what an OS or a product key is I would suggest to ask around your friends/family to see if any of them have experiance of doing this. I don't mean this impolitely but rather that I wouldnt want you damaging your PC.
NivYNWA
Target: Mortgage free by 58.0 -
I think you may well be correct Niv, I really appreciate santers post with the info, but am afraid its way over my head, there is a PC shop not far from me that offers repairs etc, so will pop in and ask them.
If I was shown what to do I know I could do it, but I wouldnt like to take the chance, again thankyou all for your help and patience ...jakem sobs....
Will start another thread soon about advice on Laptops lol, again, it will be numpty questions, so be prepared :eek:0
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