help needed with clearing computer info

crystal9

hello guys,

i was wondering if someone could help me i am selling my computer desktop and wanted to get rid of all personal info etc is there a certain download i can use that would make sure all is gone?

i have done ccleaner, i done defraggler is there anything else i need to do?

thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

Do you have the recovery disks that hopefully came with the PC? If so read this article, perform the steps suggested, then load your recovery disks.

peter59

XP or Vista or Windows 7

crystal9

thanks for the reply guys i think i do have the disk which came with it. its windows xp

crystal9

hi again,
ok i have found the windows disc that came with the pc and inserted it in but i get no options come up at all so am unsure what to do.
i have read the above link but i dont quite understand it....sorry.

thanks

crystal9

sorry forget above post i actually managed to do it.

i would like advice on something else tho please, with our new laptop every now and again i keep getting the error message saying internet explorer cannot display 1 example is when i go onto tesco clothing website, what could be causing this to happen??

googler

A guaranteed way of not passing on any personal info is to remove the Hard Disk from the PC before transferring it to anyone else......

Either sell it without HDD, or buy a replacement, either new or second-hand, and swap them.

crystal9

googler wrote: »

A guaranteed way of not passing on any personal info is to remove the Hard Disk from the PC before transferring it to anyone else......

Either sell it without HDD, or buy a replacement, either new or second-hand, and swap them.

thanks,
ive done the system restore now and theres nothing of mine on there that i can find

MadTechie

Technically just installing a system doesn't mean people can't get your old data!

It maybe worth downloading sdelete
and running
sdelete -z c:

googler

MadTechie wrote: »

Technically just installing a system doesn't mean people can't get your old data!

Seconded. Just because you don't have data recovery software, doesn't mean you should hand your data on a plate to someone who does......

Take the hard drive out of the PC, replace it with another, whether new or second-hand from eBay, and keep your current hard drive. Then you'll be sure.

crystal9

googler wrote: »

Seconded. Just because you don't have data recovery software, doesn't mean you should hand your data on a plate to someone who does......

Take the hard drive out of the PC, replace it with another, whether new or second-hand from eBay, and keep your current hard drive. Then you'll be sure.

thanks for info but me buying a hard drive even second hand would mean i lose more money as it is ive not had any offers on the pc, it dont seem that they go for much at all