Taking laptop back help..

Tigerspain

Yes I understand what your saying but doing it that way will only delete the items to make room for other things, They are all still there and they are all still retrievable, A program like GetDataBackforNTFS will easily find and recover the files, The only truly safe way is the way I stated, Granted it's going back to a shop so they will wipe it anyway making your way sufficient but if the computer was going to another person and they wanted your files they could easily retrieve them with your method of deletion so it's not complete by any means it just 'covers them up', Search it online if you dont believe me :-D

CoolHotCold

Tigerspain wrote: »

Yes I understand what your saying but doing it that way will only delete the items to make room for other things, They are all still there and they are all still retrievable, A program like GetDataBackforNTFS will easily find and recover the files, The only truly safe way is the way I stated, Granted it's going back to a shop so they will wipe it anyway making your way sufficient but if the computer was going to another person and they wanted your files they could easily retrieve them with your method of deletion so it's not complete by any means it just 'covers them up', Search it online if you dont believe me :-D

WHAT?

Even doing what you are saying originally you are still wrong. You can still retrieve data even if you delete it from the recycle bin.


THE ONLY WAY, is to Degauss or smash the hard drive OR run it through a program like Blanco that overwrites EVERYTHING with random 1 and 0's several times, Certified to DoD deletion.

Tigerspain

CoolHotCold wrote: »

WHAT?

Even doing what you are saying originally you are still wrong. You can still retrieve data even if you delete it from the recycle bin.


THE ONLY WAY, is to Degauss or smash the hard drive OR run it through a program like Blanco that overwrites EVERYTHING with random 1 and 0's several times, Certified to DoD deletion.

Your right there, anything can be retrieved without destroying the hard drive but it's a damn site easier for someone at home to recover the files by using the f11 recover method

Im not saying either is perfect but certainly my way eliminates 99% of home users recovering the files

stilltheone

Tigerspain Welcome to the board. However you seem to have got a hold of the wrong end of the stick.

The instructions that others have given, as well as what the OP has requested is for a destructive restore.

Tigerspain

Well ok no problem I was just trying to help the op remove anything he didnt want the next owners to have properly as when it goes back on sale who knows who might buy it!!!, Anyways no matter Im not gonna argue about it as it's up to the OP which method is best for him :-D

phxweb

I have a degree in Forensic computing and Data recovery, and the posts above make me confused. The easiest way to delete your data without threat of it bieng recovered is to use a file shredder (Google 'file shredder' and DL the top result) Use this file shredder to delete all of your files etc.

Then perform a full restore by pressing F11 on start up

Tigerspain

phxweb wrote: »

I have a degree in Forensic computing and Data recovery, and the posts above make me confused. The easiest way to delete your data without threat of it bieng recovered is to use a file shredder (Google 'file shredder' and DL the top result) Use this file shredder to delete all of your files etc.

Then perform a full restore by pressing F11 on start up

Fair enough

Tigerspain

Just as a final note, Even with file shredder I bet anonomous could still recover the files!!!, This is what cnet say about the program 'While shredders with more bells and whistles are available for businesses with critical security concerns, we recommend this utility for any level of user who needs a simple file eraser for files with low-level security risks.'

So some could still recover them, bUt certainly it's ceertainly much better than my way!!!!!!!

Anyway Im off the subject now!

phxweb

Tigerspain wrote: »

Just as a final note, Even with file shredder I bet anonomous could still recover the files!!!, This is what cnet say about the program 'While shredders with more bells and whistles are available for businesses with critical security concerns, we recommend this utility for any level of user who needs a simple file eraser for files with low-level security risks.'

So some could still recover them, bUt certainly it's ceertainly much better than my way!!!!!!!

Anyway Im off the subject now!

You would need a forensic data lab.... so the risk when returning to a shop is very low

stilltheone

The OP hasn't requested any file shredding or even indicated that there is sensitive information on the laptop. They simply asked how to run a Factory Restore.

If they do have sensitive data, perhaps they will come back to ask about that.