Selling Used PC - How to clean it up - internally?

[PILOT]

Hey guys,

I'm in the midst of selling my older computer. (Sony Vaio PCVRS100). Anyways, Sony doesn't send out Windows CD's, so reformatting my hard drive is out of the question.

So how would you go about setting up the system for sale to a stranger? What programs should I use? I just want to prevent a possible computer whiz that buys this thing from digging up personal info.

Any help or ideas would be great.

Thanks,

[Dick Blonov]

Does this apply to your PC ?

If so, you can create the recovery disks, wipe your HD, and use the recovery disks to reset your PC to it's original state.


DB

[Acreo Aeneas]

Sony should have provided you with Restore CDs (should be around 4-6 of them). Wipe your HD and then restore the system back using those CDs. Update Windows with all of the latest patches. And if you have time, do a 7-pass wipe/overwrite of your HD's remaining free space (DoD standard) to prevent malicious users from trying to recover any important documents or files.

[War.mongeR1]

My Vaio laptop came with the recovery disks as mentioned above. It includes windows. Formatting doesn't necessarily wipe all your info, because there are programs to unformat. But as Acreo said, you format a few times, and there's probably no way to find anything on there. Personally, I would just sell it to somebody who knows nothing about computers, like my in-laws. They don't even know how to use a mouse, so there's no way they could figure out how to find old data.

[Rookie420]

If your system didn;t come with a recovery disk then its becuase it has internal recovery built in. You must call your sony customer service number that is in the manual then give them you comp number and then once confirmed they will give you a key combination to activate it.. For instance I have a Dell and when I called inquiring about a recovery cd not coming with my rig thats what they told me then proceeded to have me hold down control and continue hitting F11 at the beginning of a reboot untill the recovery prompt came up. I know my system is a Dell but if yours didn;t come with a recovery CD then I am sure thats the case for you as well. They sasy thats what man ufacturers are starting to do. Give them a call its worth a shot and if thats not the case then while you have them on the phopne request a cd and they will ship you one. Hope this works for ya!

[Acreo Aeneas]

Oh I didn't mean to reformat several times. Just reformat once, reinstall WinXP and all patches, then wipe the free space of your HD several times over with one of the free programs out there. I highly suggest at least 7 passes. With just a few passes, a good paid program can recover half your files with 80% in perfect condition.

[Satertek]

If you have a license key (and you should), you should be able to borrow someone else's XP Home CD (or Pro if thats what the key is for) and just install using that key.

The only way to "prevent a possible computer whiz that buys this thing from digging up personal info" for absolute certainty is to completely wipe AND zero the drive. Any part of the drive that isn't overwritten is possibly recoverable.

(Not trying to scare ya, heh, just if you want to be completely certain nothing is recoverable, its the only way)

[ImAWuss]

Originally Posted by Satertek

If you have a license key (and you should), you should be able to borrow someone else's XP Home CD (or Pro if thats what the key is for) and just install using that key.

If your going to go with this method, then you should check out this post which contains information on different types of keys, and see what one fits your situation.