If you sell your PC, how do you ensure that any personal data is destroyed?

Question

I'd like to sell my PC when I upgrade. I know that simply deleting files in "my documents" will not completely remove them. Is there a sure way of removing all personal files without affecting all the programs and XP updates that are loaded?

Answer 1

Well,

There are ways of doing that.

The simplest way is to format the hard drive, and reinstall Windows from the XP discs... or these days many pc's have recovery discs that format the drive, and return the system to the way it left the factory. Then you can use Windows Update to add all the updates...

There are a number of secure deletion utilities that you can find, I've given links below.

If your personal data is just in one folder (like My Documents), ideally you could use something like a file-shredding program like SecureDelete, WindowWasher, AbsolueFileShredder or the McAffee one which will overwrite those files 7 or more times, making it almost impossible to recreate the data without extensive work and very expensive software (the FBI and US DOD can do it :)

Of course, if you really have to guarantee that the data cannot be recovered even by MI5, the Police, or anything like that, then you need to have the disc shredded, and completely destroyed using a hammer, and scatter the pieces over the ocean!

After 9/11, many terabytes of data were recovered by data recover firms from companies hard drives even from discs that were in pieces...

Hope that helps

Philip

Answer 2

Be aware that if you delete Windows from your computer (by reformatting or wiping the hard disk) and fail to reinstall it, the computer will be worth less than $10 (for parts) as you will not be able to demonstrate that it is in working order.

If you have your original CDs and License Keys reinstalling Windows and all the updates, and all of your local drivers, should not take more a few hours.

If you no longer have these install the Linux OS. Its free and will demonstrate that the hardware is working order. You'll get a little more for it and its install is usually less than ½ hour.

Answer 3

Make a copy of all your important files onto a removable media like cd or flash stick. Then create a bootdisk in program. Reboot your computer with that bootdisk set as the primary boot media. Run to partition your harddisk. This will wipe out all contents of your harddisk and you can safely sell it without fear of someone getting access to your data.

Answer 4

No, I use un-delete tools to recover files all the time. Even a format of the drive is not good enough, files can be recovered. I worked at a secure site and we used a disk wipe utility from Norton to wipe and format the drive.

Answer 5

Free program "Eraser" from www.heidi.ie. Can be set to overwrite files with garbage up to 35 passes. NB whatever you do there might be a means of recovering some of the data, but we're talking forensic specialists, not hackers.

Answer 6

http://www.sys-shield.com - AbsoluteShield File Shredder

This will overwrite the data 20 times with a specific pattern of data that means it can't be recovered. Its free for home users, but is also used by businesses who need to scrub their hard drives.
Formatting just doesn't do it, the data can be recovered using free software you can download from the internet.
You'll need to search for all your personal files and data and delete them; or scrub the drive and re-install.

Answer 7

Hi,

To be 100% sure that nobody can access your data, I'd suggest you format it completely. If you know how to use terminal commands, you can use the "Fdisk" command. If you don't know how, follow these steps:

BACK UP ALL YOUR DATA BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT ANY OF THE BELOW. USE CDS, DVDS OR EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES

1. Insert your Windows recovery disk (assuming you are amongst the 94% of the worlds population that uses winodws!)

2. Choose "Install windows".

3. When you reach the "Partitions" dialogue, delte all partitions that have been created. Create one new partition and click "next". Choose "Slow NTFS" as your format choice.

Bingo! You are done. I don't have my recovery disk with me so the labels may differ. Use the above as a general guide. Its quite simple really!

Answer 8

Use Free Disk Wipe

http://www.dirfile.com/free_disk_wipe.htm

it's free, and lets you select the files that will be completely erased.

You are right that normal delete wont erase them completely, and even formatting wont help, it's still easy to recover.

Answer 9

Formatting can be undone. Deletion can be undone. You need to thoroughly wipe the disk. You DO NOT need to buy anything - there's a free product (many actually, but this is the one I use) called Darik's Boot and Nuke - it will allow you to thoroughly wipe the drive. Download it from here:
http://dban.sourceforge.net/

Answer 10

Create a new user account, set it to admin, then delete all other users, it will ask if you wish to delete all their files too.

Next download Window Washer ( www.webroot.com) and run it to clear all history.

Search your hard drive for other places where you may store your documents, delete them.

Finally, if you have any large useless MPEG files, make a folder on the PC, copy it there, then copy again, until its full, delete the folder, do a defrag and it should be impossible to recover anything.