Deleting/formatting data from a laptop to sell

[Barney Trubble]

How do I go about deleting any data or personal information from a laptop that I am selling?

 

I have tried using F5 and F8 but I can't find any option to restore to factory settings etc. I don't have any installation CD's and am worried that if I format it then I will have to sell without an OS, which was pre-installed Vista Home Basic.

 

Any solutions to this?

[loz20]

Depending on how confidential your information is:

1)boot this http://www.dban.org/ it will be pretty much impossible to recover any data from your hard drive but you will loose your os (who would want vista anyway)

2)use http://eraser.heidi.ie/ or http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx to delete certain files. You may miss some files you would have wanted deleted.

3)just manually delete any files you want to remove and empty recycle bin. This wont delete the data it will just remove the path to where the data is stored which can be recovered by data recovery software. Would it be worth anyone doing this for your information?

 

I would just DBAN the whole disk and re install with Fedora/Ubuntu or sell with no OS.

[buctootim]

I would just DBAN the whole disk and re install with Fedora/Ubuntu or sell with no OS.

 

I wouldnt. Buyers want to see the laptop operating properly on a system they recognise before they part with their cash. Use something like this http://www.ampercent.com/delete-files-permanently-computer-hard-drive/8344/

[Barney Trubble]

Thanks guys/gals....I need the OS though as it's now been listed as with a working OS.

 

Also, is there a way of removing a password that's needed on boot up?

 

The guy I bought it from put a password in the BIOS (?)........I can of course just give this to the buyer but they might not want it.

[badgerx16]

Thanks guys/gals....I need the OS though as it's now been listed as with a working OS.

 

Also, is there a way of removing a password that's needed on boot up?

 

The guy I bought it from put a password in the BIOS (?)........I can of course just give this to the buyer but they might not want it.

 

When the system powers up you will see a message saying press F2 ( or poss F10 ) to enter setup - do this immediately this is displayed ( or else the OS will load ). Assuming there isn't a different password securing the BIOS you should be able to get into it a settings tab for SECURITY, where you can enable / disable the power on password.

[Barney Trubble]

Thanks Badger, I have pressed F2 and it's taken me to the BIOS set up utility.

 

It has four menus at the top - Main, Advanced, Boot and Exit.

 

I can't find anything about 'security' - where should I be looking?

 

Ta

[badgerx16]

Thanks Badger, I have pressed F2 and it's taken me to the BIOS set up utility.

 

It has four menus at the top - Main, Advanced, Boot and Exit.

 

I can't find anything about 'security' - where should I be looking?

 

Ta

 

Probably in 'advanced'.