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old computer

17 years ago

Hi all. I have an old computer I'd like to give to my brother. Is there some way I can clear everything out of there before I give it to him? It would be swell if it was empty like a new one but being extremely incompetent about computers I have no idea if what I want is possible. I do have the discs #1 & 2 Quick Restore. Will I need them for this? Sorry, but in order for me to understand what to do you will have to practically 'draw me a picture' LOL If nothing else can it be used just for playing games? Thanks so much for any help you can give me. BT

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Comments (5)

bob414
17 years ago
A little more information about your computer and which version of windows are on it may help someone give you the best advice. Since it is your brother and you wouldn't be worried about him trying to recover your personal information you might just try doing the quick restore. If it works like my restore cd it will put the computer in the same condition it was when you first got it-just the operating system and whatever programs came preinstalled.
kudzu9
17 years ago
If you don't do an adequate wipe of the hard drive, you could have retrievable information on it (personal, financial, etc.). Assuming you trust your brother and his friends, what happens after your brother gets rid of it? A recent study found that a high percentage of scrapped hard drives had huge amounts of recoverable info. It's not enough to simply delete a bunch of files, or re-format the hard drive. You need some file shredding software to be secure. There are some good ones out there which are free.
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brownthumbia
Original Author
17 years ago
thanks to both of you for your replies. bob, it was a Compaq computer Windows 2000, and did you uninstall everything that you could and then restore?
kudzu, can you tell me where to get the shredding software I can use? And if I do shred everything, then can I quick restore the machine with the CD's that came with it? Kinda scarey when you think you have something that almost can't be destroyed. Thanks again for your help. BT
bob414
17 years ago
No, it's not necessary to uninstall programs first, but if you use a shredder everything will be gone. Here's a link to one:
DBAN. It takes it a while to do the job so don't feel like you have to sit and watch it.
grandms
17 years ago
Another good one which is free is Eraser.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eraser

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