how do I destroy my personal information on my computer prior to donating it to charity?

Answer 1

If you are selling your computer, thoroughly clean your hard drive. Deleting files and reformatting is not enough. Reformatting does not overwrite every sector, and private information can remain retrievable. Use a secure delete or disk wiping utility to overwrite every sector on all hard drives. Be sure to use a utility that supports the U.S. DoD standard of seven passes or wipes. While this method is good enough for most people, be aware that the only absolute way of destroying all traces of everything your hard drives is to have these disks degaussed (demagnetized) and physically destroyed.
Suggested: BCWipe, Evidence Eliminator, or SDelete.

Answer 2

do a format or delete your account on windows xp and create a new one. Delete all extra programs and delete Internet browsing information and clear out all files.

Answer 3

You need to format your harddrive. Directions for doing that can be found at http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2005/harddrive_format.asp

Answer 4

Restore windows at manufacturer time or reinstall windows.