We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

guide to cleaning before selling PC?

2»

Comments

  • henm2
    henm2 Posts: 723 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    as others have said just run the excellent DBAN off a usb flash drive http://www.pendrivelinux.com/install-dban-to-a-usb-flash-drive-using-windows/
    and then as a good service to the next user put LXLE or Linux Mint xfce on it
  • knightstyle
    knightstyle Posts: 7,359 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    It is windows 7 starter. Will run DBAN and report back.
    Just seen the instructions, how do I "Once the installation to USB is complete, restart your PC and set your BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device, save your changes and reboot"
    Sorry if it is obvious to you but I have always used Macs.
  • closed
    closed Posts: 10,886 Forumite
    edited 17 April 2014 at 5:44PM
    who's going to buy it without W7
    !!
    > . !!!! ----> .
  • poppellerant
    poppellerant Posts: 1,970 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    closed wrote: »
    After a factory restore or windows reinstall, a ccleaner with wipe free space option ticked removes any chance of a new user retrieving any user files with recuva or anything else, and leaves a fully working machine. Easier than dban, and leaves a machine with more value.
    I've encountered a few times where the factory restore doesn't wipe the user files, resets some settings to default before copying across factory installed software. For this reason, I am reluctant to trust factory restores.

    Albeit at a potentially small cost, I'd sooner have the recovery software on DVD/CD, format the harddrive, then properly factory restore the machine.

    Of course, perhaps factory restores have changed now.
  • NiftyDigits
    NiftyDigits Posts: 10,459 Forumite
    knightstyle wrote: »
    It is windows 7 starter. Will run DBAN and report back.
    Just seen the instructions, how do I "Once the installation to USB is complete, restart your PC and set your BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device, save your changes and reboot"
    Sorry if it is obvious to you but I have always used Macs.


    What is the Service Tag on the machine? Look at the underside.
  • NiftyDigits
    NiftyDigits Posts: 10,459 Forumite
    F8 Several times after Dell logo and before the OS starts, This should bring up Advanced Boot Options
    Use keyboard to select Repair Your Computer
    This will bring up a GUI, clock Dell Factory Image Restore
    Select Yes to Reformat and restore system to factory condition

    Of course if you've DBAN'ed it, all will be lost. Not the best option.
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 353.6K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.1K Spending & Discounts
  • 246.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 603.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.1K Life & Family
  • 260.7K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.
Update Your Picture