Dynamite PC
New Member
With all the mistrust out there these days, I just wanted to make sure people know how to keep themselves safe when selling or giving away their computer. I wrote up an article about this on my site and felt I'd share it here.
Sometimes we simply need to replace our computer, sell it, or give it to a friend. But when you do this are you making sure that all your personal data is safe?
Before you give away a computer, you should make sure that your most private, sensitive files are irretrievable. You don't want them to fall into the wrong hands
But that's not the only thing you should be thinking about when your PC is going to belong to someone else. You should also return the hard drive to its factory condition, so that the new owner can set it up as they choose
Securely wipe all sensitive files
If you have files that contain information that you'd rather not fall into criminal hands (or government hands), merely deleting that file isn't sufficient, even if you empty the recycle bin. Deleted files can be restored with simple, free software
Instead, you should completely wipe those files, overwriting them with new, meaningless data. As a general rule, the more times the file's former location on the drive surface is overwritten, the more secure the wipe
Should you wipe the entire hard drive? That's a popular solution, but definitely not one I'd recommend. Doing so may make it impossible to reinstall Windows. So this is not a good idea unless you're giving your PC to a Linux user
I'd suggest using the free and open source program Eraser. It integrates into Windows Explorer, so you can simply right-click a sensitive file or folder and select Eraser>Erase or Eraser>Erase on Restart
But even that is not enough. Pieces of your sensitive files may be sitting elsewhere on your hard drive, in places that are officially blank. To fix that, you should wipe the unused space on your hard drive. In Windows Explorer, right-click your C: drive (or whatever drive contained your data files) and select Eraser>Erase Unused Space. You'll need to be patient in this step, as it may take a while to perform
Restore Windows
The person you are giving your computer to deserves a fresh Windows installation, even if it's of an out-of-date version
Your PC came with some sort of recovery tool intended to give the operating system a fresh start. It might be a bootable disc, but more likely it's a hidden partition on the hard drive
Check your manual, even if you have to find it online, to see how you can restore Windows on your PC. If the tool asks you how destructive the restoration should be, make sure you pick the most destructive option
When the process is complete, if there's a Windows.old folder on the hard drive, be sure to delete it.
And now you've ensured that your PC is now safe to be in someone else's hands
Sometimes we simply need to replace our computer, sell it, or give it to a friend. But when you do this are you making sure that all your personal data is safe?
Before you give away a computer, you should make sure that your most private, sensitive files are irretrievable. You don't want them to fall into the wrong hands
But that's not the only thing you should be thinking about when your PC is going to belong to someone else. You should also return the hard drive to its factory condition, so that the new owner can set it up as they choose
Securely wipe all sensitive files
If you have files that contain information that you'd rather not fall into criminal hands (or government hands), merely deleting that file isn't sufficient, even if you empty the recycle bin. Deleted files can be restored with simple, free software
Instead, you should completely wipe those files, overwriting them with new, meaningless data. As a general rule, the more times the file's former location on the drive surface is overwritten, the more secure the wipe
Should you wipe the entire hard drive? That's a popular solution, but definitely not one I'd recommend. Doing so may make it impossible to reinstall Windows. So this is not a good idea unless you're giving your PC to a Linux user
I'd suggest using the free and open source program Eraser. It integrates into Windows Explorer, so you can simply right-click a sensitive file or folder and select Eraser>Erase or Eraser>Erase on Restart
But even that is not enough. Pieces of your sensitive files may be sitting elsewhere on your hard drive, in places that are officially blank. To fix that, you should wipe the unused space on your hard drive. In Windows Explorer, right-click your C: drive (or whatever drive contained your data files) and select Eraser>Erase Unused Space. You'll need to be patient in this step, as it may take a while to perform
Restore Windows
The person you are giving your computer to deserves a fresh Windows installation, even if it's of an out-of-date version
Your PC came with some sort of recovery tool intended to give the operating system a fresh start. It might be a bootable disc, but more likely it's a hidden partition on the hard drive
Check your manual, even if you have to find it online, to see how you can restore Windows on your PC. If the tool asks you how destructive the restoration should be, make sure you pick the most destructive option
When the process is complete, if there's a Windows.old folder on the hard drive, be sure to delete it.
And now you've ensured that your PC is now safe to be in someone else's hands
