I want to sell my laptop but I don't want the buyer to have access to anything that was saved on the computer

Question

What can I do???

Answer 1

These are all great suggestions to clean your laptop's hard drive. If you don't feel up to figure out how to safely erase your laptop's hard drive, you might let a trading assistant sell the laptop for you as most go through and thoroughly clean it before selling to prevent identity theft. Consider:

- iSold it! (http://www.i-soldit.com)
- Trading Circuit (http://www.tradingcircuit.com)
- Snappy Auctions (http://www.snappyauctions.com)
- Jay Brokers (http://www.jaybrokers.com)
...and numerous others

My favorite is Jay Brokers as they pay a fixed amount upfront, before the item is sold on eBay.

You can also do a search for local trading assistants in your area on eBay's site under "trading assistants."

Answer 2

You need to reformat the laptop, install Windows and then turn off the computer. When the buyer gets the computer and sets it up, the first thing he or she will see on the laptop is the Windows setup and registration screens. You'll also need to give the buyer the product key in order to activate Windows

Answer 3

If anything means your personal data then you just have to use the recover CD that came with your laptop to format it.

However if anything means the extra programs that came with your laptop. I think that the buyer is entitled to have them. The laptop is worth nothing without the software nowadays.

Answer 4

Your answer will variety reckoning on which pc you %.! abode windows based vs Apple? a million) definite for song! you are able to as nicely hook up headphones or audio device. 2) of direction! 3) distinctive mouse substitutes are accessible...you are able to consistently upload a mouse (many times USB.) i take advantage of a thumb trackball! 4) internet Explorer is the main elementary...or gag,you ought to use aol, etc. pass to a keep that sells them...place of work Depot had some remarkable fees! try some out and spot what you like!

Answer 5

Wipe the drive use any of these three:
All data on the drive will be erased.

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?forumID=5&threadID=194873&messageID=2115918
"You can find out the manufacturer of your HD and then attempt to download the formatting tool created by that manufacturer for their HD's. Most HD Mnufactuer have a Zero Fill Low level formatting tool available to erase their HD products. This will clean any existing OS files from your system as well as any viruses other files etc.."

Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) free
http://www.download.com/Darik-s-Boot-and-Nuke/3000-2092_4-10165154.html
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=61951&package_id=58479&release_id=439240
DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.

Active@ Kill Disk - Hard Drive Eraser (Free version/ $29.95 enhanced version)
http://www.killdisk.com/
Active@ KillDisk - Hard Drive Eraser is powerful and compact DOS software that allows you to destroy all data on hard and floppy drives completely, excluding any possibility of future recovery of deleted files and folders. It's a hard drive and partition eraser utility.

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Then Format and Reinstall Windows

Optional: When you format enter "fdisk /mbr" to format the master boot record.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6132_102-0.html?forumID=32&threadID=49909&messageID=593967
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/69013

Reformat and install.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx
http://www.whitecanyon.com/reformat-the-hard-drive-in-windows-xp.php
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/l0910/32l10/32l10.asp

Answer 6

Two options:
1. Best choice: Put in a new hard drive.
2. Just Reformat and reinstall your os (operating system, such as xp or vista).

Answer 7

The ultimate cleaner is Darik's Nuke and Boot, get the free download from link below.
Formatting will not clean off the data.

Answer 8

Remove the hard drive and play Captain Destructo! Mash it to smithereens and dispose of the pieces in separate places!

Answer 9

I got a free laptop from this site, I highly recommend it!

Answer 10

take your lap top to a computer cleaner, and tell them to delete every program saved on the computer