How do I erase all personal information from a laptop that I am selling?

Answer 1

I hope you have the original operating system installation CDs. That would make it much easier. All you would have to do is departition your drive. This will wipe all data as unretreivable including all programs and operating systems. At that point load your install cd and load the operating system and what ever programs you want.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Well, if a computer or laptop has been in our use even for a limited time, we are not sure where and how much we put our personal things on it. So if you want to be 100% sure nothing is left on the lap top, just format its hard drive(s) and reinstall operating system. You can do this by using the disk that came with the lap top. If you do not have such a disk, you can manually format disks and reinstall operating sytem from any operating system CD or DVD.

One interesting thing is that even if you format your drive, data can still be recovered, but don't worry, a common person cannot do it. A professional (like me) can do it. So dont worry, if you formate your hard drive, a common person can never retrieve the data.

There is a way to completely wash up the storage which is called absolute writing to media. This requires a machine-level programming skill, and you cannot do it.

Anyhow, I told all above just for knowledge. For your purpose, formating all hard drives will be suffiecent for you to be sure that your personal date won't be retrieved from it.

Hope that answers the question

Answer 3

You need to run a "wipe" program. Just formating the drive and reinstalling Windows will NOT remove your personal data. If they have the proper software they can recover anything on the part of the hard drive were Windows was not reinstalled. (Windows normally only uses a small part of the hard drive.)

Go to http://download.com and do a search for "disk wipe". You will find several free programs for wiping the disk. They will go through and save garbage over every single spot of your hard drive (usually three times to each) to make it impossible to recover anything.

After that, if you are including the original Windows CD with the laptop, you can be nice and reinstall it for them. Or just give them the Cd and say "good luck".

Answer 4

The best thing to do is first back up all of your personal data/documents/files onto a CD, DVD, or an external hard drive. Afterwards, format your laptop's C drive, which will erase every single file that existed on the hard drive, and then re-install your operating system. This will make your laptop as clean and/or pristine as the first day you bought it.

Answer 5

Puhleez remove the hard drive and play Captain Destructo!

I did! (It can be fun!) Here is the rest, for your entertainment...I removed the hard drive, carefully pulling screws, walked to the garage, grin in place. Then I pulled a pair of vise grips and a sledge hammer from the tool shelf, and placed the hard drive in the vise. Slam once to bend it sideways. Pry once to give'er a good twist, then on, and on. (Surprisingly hard lil' boogers!) Twist, and pound, til' it was broken into several pieces. We disposed of them in separate places, here and about all over town.

Thing is, no matter how hard you try, there's Personally Identifiable Information (likely a password or a street address or an email address - yours or a buddy's) somewhere on that hard drive. And as you may have seen on TV, like on NCIS or some of them other cop shows, even if you're paranoid does'nt mean they're not out to getcha!

Answer 6

The best way to insure all personal information, or any sensitive information you don't want someone else getting, is to wipe the disk. This will require to you use your system's recovery CDs afterward to restore it to factory defaults, but it is really the safest way to insure your data is gone.

Active@KillDisk is free and will do a throrough job of destroying data on your drive so it can't be recovered.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Active_KillDisk_d4791.html

Hope this helps!

Answer 7

run the system recovery program, when you first start the computer, see if there is something like "f12 to start system recovery". you can also put in the recovery disc and boot from that to format the hard drive and re install the operating system. lastly, remove the hard drive, and sell it without one. that way all your personal data will still be with you.

Answer 8

if you can reload windows I would suggest getting

http://www.cyberscrub.com/products/cybercide/index.php

I assume you have your original recovery disks so that you can reload windows or sell it with a blank hard drive.

Answer 9

well first off delete all information, then use the CD's that came with it to restore to the way it was when you bought it.