When I did that, I removed the hard drive, disassembled it, and had a friend run a blowtorch over the plates of the disks. But I'm prone to overdoing....
Best procedure for wiping a computer before selling/giving away.
1 - 14 of 14 Posts
Neither my SIL nor I are going to do that. And I think she had the idea of gifting it afterwards to a family member, otherwise I'd ask you to do it next time you're in town.The Hooded Claw said:
Betsy
I guess the question is how thorough you want to be.
I recently disposed of two computers. One I gave to a friend . . . basically just followed the manufacturer directions to restore it to factory defaults. And then did all the updates for Win 7 so he'd have it ready to go. Even loaded his Office software for him.
The other was a Win8 machine and, again, I just followed the steps for restoring to factory -- that one I was 'trading in' to Amazon for money.
One other I sent back a couple of months ago failed to where I couldn't boot it. . . I returned it to Woot for a full refund, but I couldn't wipe it before I did so because I couldn't reboot it. And if I'd disassembled it and run a blowtorch over it I doubt they would have refunded my money.
So I just had to trust 'em. I'd not loaded much, yet, fortunately.
Quick google found this: http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm
It appears there's a free version and it references DOD level cleaning . . . . .
When Ed gets home I'll ask him if he knows of anything else.
I recently disposed of two computers. One I gave to a friend . . . basically just followed the manufacturer directions to restore it to factory defaults. And then did all the updates for Win 7 so he'd have it ready to go. Even loaded his Office software for him.
The other was a Win8 machine and, again, I just followed the steps for restoring to factory -- that one I was 'trading in' to Amazon for money.
One other I sent back a couple of months ago failed to where I couldn't boot it. . . I returned it to Woot for a full refund, but I couldn't wipe it before I did so because I couldn't reboot it. And if I'd disassembled it and run a blowtorch over it I doubt they would have refunded my money.
So I just had to trust 'em. I'd not loaded much, yet, fortunately.Quick google found this: http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm
It appears there's a free version and it references DOD level cleaning . . . . .
When Ed gets home I'll ask him if he knows of anything else.
Thanks, I'll check out the software. I did do a search, but it's hard to know if software is legit--was wondering if anyone had some they'd actually tried.
Appreciate any help. I've never gotten rid of a computer with a working hard drive before.
Betsy
Appreciate any help. I've never gotten rid of a computer with a working hard drive before.
Betsy
When I found that, it looked familiar. I think Ed may have used it previously . . . .he's not home just now but I'll ask him when he gets back.Betsy the Quilter said:Thanks, I'll check out the software. I did do a search, but it's hard to know if software is legit--was wondering if anyone had some they'd actually tried.
Appreciate any help. I've never gotten rid of a computer with a working hard drive before.
Betsy
And that's a fine method . . . . if you never want to use it again!Andra said:
Though: a person comfortable with disassembling electronics could buy a new (probably faster) hard drive and destroy the old one. Wouldn't have the original operating system, any more, of course so you would probably also end up having to pay again for that.
1 - 14 of 14 Posts
