What do you use to scrub a computer before selling?

[Raswan]

Getting ready to sell a couple of old laptops my fiance has (2005 and 2008, respectively) and I have run into a problem I've never had with my own rigs--she doesn't have the original backup cds for one, and for the other the cd isn't properly working. The newer one's a Toshiba, the older a Gateway, and I need to wipe them clean before selling them. I can't reformat since I wouldn't be able to reinstall windows; I'm sure there are many solutions to this problem, but I wanted to ask here before spending hours reading about software to buy, etc.

I'm willing to spend up to $40 on software that is effective, but only if I can be convinced that it will work again and again in the years to come.

Thanks in advance!

 

[paperwastage]

http://killdisk.com/
freeware for a 1 pass... $40 for a DOS version that does multiple passes and other features

http://www.dban.org/
freeware

other stuff

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/how-to-really-erase-a-hard-drive/129

 

[janas19]

Getting ready to sell a couple of old laptops my fiance has (2005 and 2008, respectively) and I have run into a problem I've never had with my own rigs--she doesn't have the original backup cds for one, and for the other the cd isn't properly working. The newer one's a Toshiba, the older a Gateway, and I need to wipe them clean before selling them. I can't reformat since I wouldn't be able to reinstall windows; I'm sure there are many solutions to this problem, but I wanted to ask here before spending hours reading about software to buy, etc.

I'm willing to spend up to $40 on software that is effective, but only if I can be convinced that it will work again and again in the years to come.

Thanks in advance!

Hey Raswan, if the laptops are OEM and were purchased with Windows originally, they will have a serial key on them which is legally a Windows license. If you have that key, then all you would need to do is burn an ISO image of Windows on a CD. I know Microsoft has an ISO of Windows XP available on their website.

I don't know what version of Windows you're running but I suggested it anyway because I've had the same problem of losing the disks. I would've had to pay $50 for a new disk, but with XP and the ISO it worked just fine.

 

[Motorheader]

Do either of the systems have the option of making a burnable/bootable CD/DVD set for installation of the OS and drivers? Does the Toshiba have an F key option at bootup to start system diagnostic/repair? If it does then you likely have a bootable repair partition that will take the system back to factory fresh.

 

[Raswan]

Hey Raswan, if the laptops are OEM and were purchased with Windows originally, they will have a serial key on them which is legally a Windows license. If you have that key, then all you would need to do is burn an ISO image of Windows on a CD. I know Microsoft has an ISO of Windows XP available on their website.

I don't know what version of Windows you're running but I suggested it anyway because I've had the same problem of losing the disks. I would've had to pay $50 for a new disk, but with XP and the ISO it worked just fine.

They were, both have a serial key, and one runs XP while the other is Vista. I had thought of just using my old XP cds to do a fresh install on the one, but obviously this wouldn't have worked for the other. I like your idea though, and will check microsoft's website to see if they still have them on there.

 

[Raswan]

Do either of the systems have the option of making a burnable/bootable CD/DVD set for installation of the OS and drivers? Does the Toshiba have an F key option at bootup to start system diagnostic/repair? If it does then you likely have a bootable repair partition that will take the system back to factory fresh.

I'll check this out too. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Raswan]

http://killdisk.com/
freeware for a 1 pass... $40 for a DOS version that does multiple passes and other features

http://www.dban.org/
freeware

other stuff

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/how-to-really-erase-a-hard-drive/129

Thanks paper. I'll look into these, even if the other two suggestions work. It seems like a good idea to do in any case, but just something that I've always been able to convince myself is not necessary. Most of the time I just sell my old rig to a friend at a premium, so it's not like they are going to want to (or be able to) voodoo my tax info from '05 and use it to steal my worthless identity. But selling to strangers is different, so I guess it's time to learn. Thanks again.

 

[Bubbaleone]

I'm willing to spend up to $40 on software that is effective, but only if I can be convinced that it will work again and again in the years to come

I've used both of these utilities for years. They both run from a bootable CD that you create. I've tested to see If data can be recovered from wiped HDD's using "active@", "GetDataBacK", and "R-Studio" recovery software. Both DBAN and ET effectively prevent any data recovery at all.

DBAN, free open-souce: Darik's Boot And Nuke

ET, Retail: East-Tec DisposeSecure

Note: Don't use a simple one-pass zero or random character wipe. These type wipes are software recoverable. Use one of the advanced algorithms. I prefer Bruce Schneier's algorithm.

 

[Raswan]

I've used both of these utilities for years. They both run from a bootable CD that you create. I've tested to see If data can be recovered from wiped HDD's using "active@", "GetDataBacK", and "R-Studio" recovery software. Both DBAN and ET effectively prevent any data recovery at all.

DBAN, free open-souce: Darik's Boot And Nuke

ET, Retail: East-Tec DisposeSecure

Note: Don't use a simple one-pass zero or random character wipe. These type wipes are software recoverable. Use one of the advanced algorithms. I prefer Bruce Schneier's algorithm.

Thanks for the suggestions bubba. Ended up going with Dban and doing the PRNG stream wipe, 8 passes. Took an insane 11 hours, but at least I feel confident that it's clean

 

[sm625]

If the computer has a fully functional OS and all I want to do is wipe the free space, then I just click on any large file, press CRTL-C, then press CTRL V a bunch of times, and wait till it says disk full. Viola, all free space is written over by a bunch of copies of some random file. Then I just delete those copies. This trick is only simple if you know where to find a large file on your computer lol.

 

[sygyzy]

Use DBAN

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

Garbage disposal.

 

[DirkGently1]

What do you use to scrub a computer before selling?

Ajax and a stiff brush. Rinse in warm water and dry with a microfibre cloth.

 

[jordanecmusic]

What do you use to scrub a computer before selling?

Ajax and a stiff brush. Rinse in warm water and dry with a microfibre cloth.

Nononono you use a brillo pad! Make sure you keep that motherboard squeaky clean!

 

[GoStumpy]

HDDLLF

(HDD Low Level Format)

http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

 

[Matt1970]

HDDLLF

(HDD Low Level Format)

http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

That's not really a low level format. That isn't really even possible on drives made in the last 15 years or so.

Ccleaner has a Drive Wiper

 

[GoStumpy]

That's not really a low level format. That isn't really even possible on drives made in the last 15 years or so.

Ccleaner has a Drive Wiper

No, but it does the trick!