Why not simply use the HP restore disks yourself to restore the computer to the original factory settings with everything else removed? Very simple to do.

If you no longer have the HP restore disks then use the link below to download and create a Win98 boot floppy. Insert it in the floppy drive and restart the computer. At the A:\ prompt type format c: /s. Note the space after c: and before /s - this will format the drive wiping everything off and will also install the system files ready for you to install Win98.

In my humble opinion you will pay more at a service centre for this simple service than the computer is actually worth today. If you really feel this is beyond you offer a local student $40, payment on completion, to come to your home and do the job.

Here is a link that might be useful: Get W98 boot disk files here

One way you can do it yourself is to download a boot disk from
Bootdisk.com for Win 98, put it on a floopy, bootup with it, type Fdisk at the prompt, when fdisk opens, delete the partition, poof - everything is gone.
The free version of Active@ KillDisk - Hard Drive Eraser on a floppy will also do the trick.

A shop shouldn't charge over $20, it will take them less than 5 minutes to fdisk after the computer is in their hands.
I use a boot cd Drive Eraser from Webroot, I'm sure there is plenty of free software out there for erasing harddrives.

to answer the question asked, you can expect them to charge you $20 to $40 bucks for a so simple wipe/format.

if you want a government level wipe conforming to Department of Defense (DOD Data Cleaning and Sanitizing Standard 5220.22-M) then it might be a little more.

that said, you can do both yourself with various free utilities available on the internet.

Please note that Active@DiskKill's free version mentioned above IS NOT a government-level DOD-compliant disk wipe.

What is the difference ?

Well, formatting or simply wiping a hard drive once is only writing over the first letter of the the hard drive contents header file. All the data that was on the hard drive remains, and there are utilities out there to recover data from a formatted or standard wiped hard drive, so you information is not truely gone, it jsut looks like it is gone, and as new files are saved and teh new system is used, the old data is overwritten, but please know unless the whole hard drive is filled, it may never be completely overwritten.

Now with government level DOD compliant utilities for data wiping, very complex and time consuming operations are performed to write over the data repeatedly until its not possible to recover any previous data.

Here is more information on DOD Data Cleaning and Sanitizing Standard 5220.22-M if you want a long boring read.

here are some D0D 5220.22-M compliant free utilities that will do the job for you:

• Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) (free)

• BC Wipe (30 day free trial)

• Eraser (free)

It is a case of shoulda, woulda, coulda.

I intended to give it to a local group who takes old computers, cleans them up and gives them to students or others who can't afford them. They would have done the cleaning up. I believe they use this program as training for students at the Vocational School.

I called to make the arrangements, and so far they haven't returned my call. I do know from an article in our newspaper that they lost the use of the building they were in.

I would just like to get it out of my way at this point.

Thanks for your suggestions. Maybe someday I'll hook it up again and do it myself.

Sue

Ah, so you already had a place for it to go. So if they do contact you then ask if they can send someone to fdisk the drive at your home before they take it as Randy suggested. Depending on the hard drive size it should not take too long for them to do and you will know all your data has been taken care of. Remind them to bring their own Win98 boot disk to work from.

Owbist. good idea. If they call back I'll suggest that.

Thanks,

Sue

Backup is an important activity that anyone who uses computer regularly for commercial activity. Any loss of data can destroy your hard work in a jiffy and can cause a massive financial loss. You can either keep the backup on your hard disk, CDs or on Internet. To store your backup, you need to use internet backup software.

Here is a link that might be useful: Backup software