I am giving away an old computer that has windows 98. Before I give it away, I would like to erase all my data and saved junk I have piled up over the years on it. Can anyone tell me how to do that?
2007-03-23 03:06:44 · 4 answers · asked by Mandy 4 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
Can you be more specific please?
2007-03-23 03:10:24 · update #1
the best answer is to open up the box, and remove the hard drive ... they are cheap enough for the donee to replace.
there are also utilities that you can use to wipe the disk that are probably good enough for normal personal privacy on giving computer to someone who is unlikely to go all out with special tools to recover what you have deleted .. e.g.
http://www.download.com/Free-Disk-Wipe/3000-2092_4-10622193.html?tag=lst-0-2
( I haven't used that one myself, but it appears to be free)
2007-03-23 03:17:53 · answer #1 · answered by hustolemyname 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The harddrive probable nevertheless works. Take it out and stick it in yet another laptop. then you definately can purely shop making use of it. in case you do not prefer to maintain the innovations: There are courses you may get which will overwrite your records as quickly as you insert your harddrive in a clean laptop or in an exterior force so which you will get entry to it (ultimate to overwrite 7+ cases for real risk-free practices.) Ccleaner is one software which could help with that. that's in reality what a expert will do for you. the reason you prefer to overwrite is that in case you in basic terms delete it, the innovations remains there. Even once you overwrite there's a magnetic "ghost" which could be recovered, however the extra cases you overwrite it, the extra that fades into oblivion. whether while you're bent on actual records destruction - take the harddrive (the place all your records would be) and sure, you should use magnets. To be relatively helpful that is ineffective, open it up (there are screws) and take out the platters interior. those are what you easily might desire to destroy. Run stable magnets suitable over the precise of them. you additionally can scratch them up. fireplace is efficient additionally.
2016-10-19 10:13:32 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Allot of companies these days, destroy their computers, instead of giving them away, because of what is on their hard drives. Even if you erase, or format your hard drive your personal information can still be accessed. So your best bet is to replace the hard drive, and keep yours or destroy it..before you give it away.
2007-03-23 03:26:03 · answer #3 · answered by Hummbaba 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have sensitive data that you do not wish for anybody too see you must run a low level format which requires software you can get it for free here.
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2006.04.12-HDD-Low-Level-Format-Tool/
2007-03-23 03:46:37 · answer #4 · answered by PE7E 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋