Laptop Assistance Required Please - Hard Drive / Screen Probs

saintdan

Hi there,

Just need some advice/assistance please.

I have a laptop on which I have just smashed the screen - everything else works okay, but only half of the screen is visible.

I want to sell it on ebay but I want to make sure everything has gone from the hard drive before I do. I understand I can delete everything but doesn't everything just sit in the background & can still be accessed by someone with the know how?

Also I would find it difficult to download anything to remove the files as my view of the screen is limited.

If I remove the hard-drive, I assume that none of my data will be stored on the laptop is that correct?

Any recommendations please??

Thanks

Dan

Conor_3

Connect the laptop to a monitor and use that as the display - all laptops have a VGA connector. Use one of the many HDD cleaner tools available to wipe it.

saintdan

Conor wrote: »

Connect the laptop to a monitor and use that as the display - all laptops have a VGA connector. Use one of the many HDD cleaner tools available to wipe it.

unfortunately i have no monitor to connect it to. also i no longer have a wired modem so i can't connect it to the net anymore.

potsofmoney_(I_wish)

Well...

This is one way to do it, but it involves opening up your laptop (a bit) and buying something off ebay first.

1. Remove Hard Drive from laptop - refer to manual how to do this. Unlikely to require more than 2 screws being undone.
2. Measure interface on Hard disk with a ruler - I expect it to be 2.5 inches long.
3. Buy a IDE to USB converter. expect to pay ~£10. Bear in mind the size of the hard drive interface when choosing the adapter. (I found a load by searching for usb 2.5 in Cables/ Connectors)
4. Wait for it to arrive (from China...) and decide which of many hard drive wiping utilities to use. Best to use one which will work from within windows - you stand a lower chance of wiping the wrong hard drive!
5. Connect hard drive to usb adapter and plug into your PC. Use software to wipe hard disk.
6. Reasemble laptop.
7. Sell laptop.
8. Sell USB adapter (as reliable UK based seller).
9. Profit

saintdan

I've just booted up laptop & had a play & connected it to the internet - I never knew it had a wireless connection.

I have now deleted all the files on my desktop & in my documents & un-installed all the programs I had installed- it was a bit tricky using only half a screen but i did it.

Can anyone recommend a free program I could use to get rid of everything completely? Also will that delete windows as well. Ideally I would just like to delete all files 100% completely & if possible still keep the operating system on there.

Rgds
Daniel

potsofmoney_(I_wish)

Try Daric's boot and nuke. You will need to boot from either CD or floppy to use this application. Documentation on website is good.

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

PS. the kind of person wanting to by a broken laptop is unlikely to care is windows is installed or not.

BillScarab

Can't you take the laptop to a friend's house and borrow their monitor while you do it. Much easier than messing around with half a screen?

I'd also recommend dban

allaboard_2

What sort of laptop is it?

It's usually not very difficult to replace the screen and you might be able to get a used one. You don't normally have to use the exact same screen either.