Selling laptop without hard drive

northern_at_heart

Hi, I think this is my first time on the Techie board! Please be nice!

Just after some advice as I know very little about computers... I want to sell my old Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop which is about 4 years old and which I replaced recently, as it wasn't working well (slow, overheating, not holding charge despite new battery).

Being worried about ID fraud and my personal data, I tried a few programs to wipe the hard drive (DiskKill etc) but got in a muddle as the programs didn't install/delete it properly. I then got impatient and just deleted the entire contents of my C drive which stopped the computer working but as I wasn't convinced this had deleted everything, I just removed the hard drive physically from the back of the laptop.

My questions are:

1. Is this definitely enough to stop anyone getting personal info off my laptop? It's only the hard drive I need to worry about, right?
2. Where's the best place to sell a laptop with no hard drive and how much should I ask for? Presumably it's only good for spares and parts now although it still has a battery and power cable.

Thanks for any advice!

eyeinthesky

I would guess it doesn't have any value at all now. Best place for it is the bin.

free4440273

Is this definitely enough to stop anyone getting personal info off my laptop? It's only the hard drive I need to worry about, right?
Where's the best place to sell a laptop with no hard drive and how much should I ask for? Presumably it's only good for spares and parts now although it still has a battery and power cable.

^^^^^^^^^^^^/

1. yes, without the hard drive, u have nothing to worry/

2. depends on exact spec of the laptop //

free4440273

Presumably it's only good for spares and parts now although it still has a battery and power cable

^not necessarily, depends on the technical nous of the purchaser//

free4440273

Hi, I think this is my first time on the Techie board! Please be nice!

^ nice ? u sure ? lol

Hammyman

Hi northern_at_heart.

I sell used laptops for a living so am in a position to be a bit more helpful than eyeinthesky...

1) Just deleting everything doesn't get rid of the data and neither does a format - you need to run one of those tools. If you've removed the drive, the easiest way to stop it being read from is to throw it on the floor a few times and bash it with a hammer so its bent to a U shape - cutting it up with an angle grinder is better still. A far better and more environmentally friendly solution is to spend a few quid on a USB SATA hard drive caddy, pop the drive in there and use it yourself for backing stuff up or as external storage.

2) Ebay is your best bet. Someone like me would buy that with a view to either breaking for spares or repairing and reselling. Price depends on cosmetic condition and if the battery holds a decent charge. Start it at £50 as an auction and let the market decide. You will get more money off it if you can create a Ubuntu installation CD, boot the laptop off that and take a picture showing it working.

Final note: Your fault is probably the usual common one of the gap between the fan and heatsink being blocked solid with fluff and for an hours labour, your local shop should be able to sort it if you're not happy doing it yourself. You say you got a new battery but it didn't hold charge. Dell laptops check the battery is genuine. If you've bought a non-genuine one that doesn't identify itself correctly, the laptop will refuse to charge it.

cit_k

Yes, someone could buy it to refurb and resell, or for parts, for example the screen alone is a costly item to replace if you have a model with that screen and you screen is broken.

Then their is the cpu, memory, motherboard, even the heatsink/fan/modem/wifi card etc will probably sell as parts or come in useful for someone.

Even the memory cover, the little plate at the bottom with the certificate of authenticity can be sold for a few quid....

If you list it, look for a 'service tag' under the laptop and put that in the auction so people can look up the specs of the laptop.

Lil306

northern_at_heart wrote: »

Hi, I think this is my first time on the Techie board! Please be nice!

Just after some advice as I know very little about computers... I want to sell my old Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop which is about 4 years old and which I replaced recently, as it wasn't working well (slow, overheating, not holding charge despite new battery).

Being worried about ID fraud and my personal data, I tried a few programs to wipe the hard drive (DiskKill etc) but got in a muddle as the programs didn't install/delete it properly. I then got impatient and just deleted the entire contents of my C drive which stopped the computer working but as I wasn't convinced this had deleted everything, I just removed the hard drive physically from the back of the laptop.

My questions are:

1. Is this definitely enough to stop anyone getting personal info off my laptop? It's only the hard drive I need to worry about, right?
2. Where's the best place to sell a laptop with no hard drive and how much should I ask for? Presumably it's only good for spares and parts now although it still has a battery and power cable.

Thanks for any advice!

If you want to erase all data on the machine, get DBAN (Dariks Boot and Nuke)

It's a cd you run it will wipe your HDD compliant to Department of Defense standards (7 pass) or if you want overkill something like a 10 pass of random 1s and 0s

It's not a sure fire method but it will stop the most determined person without access to true data recovery tools like a lab

northern_at_heart

Thanks Hammyman and Cit-k for your help.

I've listed it on Ebay - the listing is here just in case you have any comments! (I've sold lots of stuff on Ebay but never anything technical...)

Thanks again!

closed

Put the hard disk in a caddy and use it for backup

It's not 100% clear what you have done, but if the factory restore partition is still there, you could factory restore it, and wipe free space with ccleaner (wipe free space ticked) and sell it complete

or dban it, and reinstall windows from recovery disc if you have one.

cit_k

northern_at_heart wrote: »

Thanks Hammyman and Cit-k for your help.

I've listed it on Ebay - the listing is here just in case you have any comments! (I've sold lots of stuff on Ebay but never anything technical...)

Thanks again!

I would mention in the auction that the battery is new, if that is the case, and whether it is an original authentic dell battery or a generic replacement compatible battery.

Also mention you are including the power supply adapter as well as the power cable (as some sellers may just list power cable and literally just send the cable that plugs into the adaptor, so buyers need to be sure they are getting both).

Not sure on that model, but many dells have a plastic 'caddy' or end piece that hides the hole the drive slotted into, if that is the case, let buyers know if that is included as they may want to install their own drive into it, and will need that part to hide the gap.

According to the specs listed by dell for that service tag (you can check them here (just enter your service tag and click on original configuration, assuming you have not upgraded or downgraded anything) if you want to include any in the auction) you are running vista home premium, it may be worth mentioning the version of vista as there are a few different versions.

If the screen is in good condition, say so, ie let buyers know if its nice and bright, free from dead pixels pressure marks etc if that is the case, as someone may want the screen.