Selling Laptop - Removing Files etc.

Chalky87

Hi,

I'm looking to put my laptop on eBay, and have already got some useful advice from the ebay board. But I was hoping someone on this board may be able to help out with the more technical side of things.

1) I realise I'll need to remove my files etc from the PC, so would it be better to format the drive and then re-install Windows Vista onto the PC?

2) Also do I need to infrom Dell that I will no longer be the owner, or un-register with Microsoft?

3) Just so I know exactly what I had at the beginning, what CD drivers usually come with a new laptop (it's a Dell Inspiron 1501)?....I know I should have them all in one place, but there are so many CD's for various PC's in the house I struggle to know which is which!

Thank-you.

Chalky

aliEnRIK

1 ~ Yes, if you know what your doing (You need drivers too)
2 ~ No
3 ~ Not sure (They seem to keep changing what they give out). I had main drivers disc, Vista disc, and one for my monitor.

isofa

Best to completely and securely wipe the hard disc using a tool such as DBAN, this will make it far more unlikely that anyone could recover any of your personal data from the drive.

Then boot to the Windows CD and reinstall.

angelavdavis

Chalky87 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking to put my laptop on eBay, and have already got some useful advice from the ebay board. But I was hoping someone on this board may be able to help out with the more technical side of things.

1) I realise I'll need to remove my files etc from the PC, so would it be better to format the drive and then re-install Windows Vista onto the PC?

2) Also do I need to infrom Dell that I will no longer be the owner, or un-register with Microsoft?

3) Just so I know exactly what I had at the beginning, what CD drivers usually come with a new laptop (it's a Dell Inspiron 1501)?....I know I should have them all in one place, but there are so many CD's for various PC's in the house I struggle to know which is which!

Thank-you.

Chalky

Did your PC not come with a reinstallation disk? Most laptops and desktops come with a reinstall disk that has all the relevant drivers preloaded?

Chalky87

Thanks for the responses.

Angeladavis it came with a Vista Reinstallation CD yes...

angelavdavis

I would definitely reinstall it to clear it down.

isofa

angelavdavis wrote: »

I would definitely reinstall it to clear it down.

This will not wipe your data securely, just in the same way that deleting a file does not make it unrecoverable. Anyone with a bit of technical knowledge will be able to recover files, personal details etc.

If you want to securely wipe the system, follow my advice above, or search the forum, well covered here.