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!

Need to sell a laptop and need to erase data on it

2»

Comments

  • Fightsback
    Fightsback Posts: 2,504 Forumite
    loveandlight wrote: »
    I need to sell my laptop and want to make sure the buyer can't restore my highly confidential data that I have deleted. I have reset to factory settings but am sure this may not be enough.

    Can anyone recommend a quick effective way of ensuring my deleted data can't be restored?

    Many thanks

    Use fire and lots of it.

    :D
    Science isn't exact, it's only confidence within limits.
  • Sam_Fallow
    Sam_Fallow Posts: 923 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    loveandlight wrote: »
    I need to sell my laptop and want to make sure the buyer can't restore my highly confidential data that I have deleted. I have reset to factory settings but am sure this may not be enough.

    Can anyone recommend a quick effective way of ensuring my deleted data can't be restored?

    Many thanks

    Quick or effective, make a choice.

    Any quick solution won't be effective (to anyone determined to recover the info) and anything effective takes time.

    The only 100% guaranteed method is to drive a 6" nail through the hard drive and then crush it while it's on fire.
    I don't like morning people. Or mornings. Or people.
  • brightonman123
    brightonman123 Posts: 8,535 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    can you get a new h/d to replace yours?
    Long time away from MSE, been dealing real life stuff..
    Sometimes seen lurking on the compers forum :-)
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    If you really want to ensure that your data is destroyed, take the laptop into PCW and ask them to 'repair' it.
    That usually does the job. Unless your name is Mr G. Glitter.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • whitegoods_engineer
    whitegoods_engineer Posts: 636 Forumite
    :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
    macman wrote: »
    If you really want to ensure that your data is destroyed, take the laptop into PCW and ask them to 'repair' it.
    That usually does the job. Unless your name is Mr G. Glitter.
    :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
  • puppet1984
    puppet1984 Posts: 125 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    You could sell it without the drive as an 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
  • 351.7K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.3K Life & Family
  • 258.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K 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