How do you remove personal information from your computer before you sell it?

Question

I want to sell my computer but I do not know how to get rid of personal info on it other that wiping out everything. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

I am a board certified clinical psychiatrist, and have performed contract work for an intelligenc agency.

None of the software that claims to wipe your HDD, clean will actually perform as claimed.

There are only two 100% safe methods.

1). Remove the HDD, before you sell your pc and beat the HDD to death with a hammer. Then it is safe to dump in the garbage as no forensic computer expert can strip any data off your HDd.

2). Remove and HDD, and keep it in your home safe or some other safe place. Tell the buyer that they have to purchase their own HDd. (Should cost very little for the new purchaser).

Minddoctor, France

Answer 2

Destroying the hard drive is the only thing that will protect your data 100%. However, a PC w/o a working hard drive & an OS is only worth about $10 for parts. You might consider loading Linux over the entire drive. As its file format is different, it makes recovery of old data difficult w/o special hardware that few would be willing to buy just to get your personal information. As most computer users only use it for surfing the web, Linux is OK. The bottom line is that a used computer is just not worth much with new, more powerful ones coming out each month.

Perhaps you could just give it to a trusted family member?

Answer 3

Other answers about removing and/or destroying the HD is correct. You should never dispose of a computer with the HD installed.

If you insisted on providing the HD with the computer, use a program like Eraser to overwrite the data. This will not remove the date but overwrite it and make it difficult to retrieve the data.

Eraser overwrites the HD 3 times. I would use it more than once. When you are finished with Eraser reinstall the Windows OS.

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

Answer 4

I noticed someone mentioned Eraser, a program used to wipe data. I use that to delete all trash. You have the option of wiping you computer to DOD standards, or like me, I use the Guttman method (or something like that). It basically does 35 passes.
Just make sure that you do not delete things using the recycle bin. Use Eraser and set it to at least DOD standards.

((Now unless you had an extremely powerful magnetic field, that would be something you could run your HDD, though i would not recomment it. Try running it through an MRI, now thats something ; ) hehe. J/K.))

Answer 5

your best bet is to do the "wiping out everything," but even this doesn't actually remove the information (the disk must be zeroed to actually complete this)

It's not advisable to sell/give a computer that hasn't been "wiped."

Answer 6

Pull out the hard drive & smash it. Don't ever sell a computer with the drive intact. Anything wiped can be brought back.

Answer 7

There's software you can buy that will clean the hard-drive.
or just buy another hard-drive. They're cheap enough. But with the pricesfor new computers so low now, I don't know anyone who would buy used.

Answer 8

there are three easy steps to this
1. take HD out of computer
2.get heavy hammer
3.hit HD with hammer till it is in little bits,

there is no sure way to make sure you data has been completely wiped

Answer 9

I was told you have to erase every thing or your personal information will be on it.I wanted to sell one of mine but I found it was not worth it.

Answer 10

Take out the hard drive !