Comments | gigib: Techie Question

gigib

Techie Question

Dec 01, 2005 17:13

What's the easiest way to wipe everything from the hard-drive of a laptop? And what's the best was to dispose of the laptop itself?

As part of the pre-move sort, I'm getting rid of my old laptop. I've taken all the files off it, but I'm not sure what to do next. Any advice much appreciated.

Comments 9

Your friendly tech support answers... 3_nic December 1 2005, 17:24:34 UTC

1/The easiest way is to format it from the BIOS, if there's nothing in particular on the drive you'd object someone really motivated finding. If there are pictures of you and Gary Glitter on it, there are tools to wipe the data so it can't be recovered except by the CIA; I'll point you to some, if you need.

2/ Why don't you just give the laptop to a friend? Don't throw away a computer, it's useful!

Re: Your friendly tech support answers... gigib December 1 2005, 17:49:39 UTC

Many thanks!

1/ What the heck is the BIOS and how does one format it? I don't think there's anything too sensitive on there.

2/The "laptop" is from about 1902. It's one of those huge beasts that can't actually be carried anywhere, and it's American so needs an adaptor to charge the battery. It also has many problems that render it unuseable - it crashes every few minutes, and sometimes the screen just goes blank and you can't even switch it off, so I don't *think* anyone would want it, unless they want to use it for an art project or something. Any takers?

Re: Your friendly tech support answers... sheridanwilde December 1 2005, 17:59:29 UTC

there are charities that can do something with just about any piece of kit - even if it's just taking it apart and using the components to make computers to get people in the third world online.

Re: Your friendly tech support answers... gigib December 2 2005, 14:48:22 UTC

Will look into it. Thanks.

gothwin December 1 2005, 18:02:55 UTC

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/download.php

I used that when I gave my old PC away.

gigib December 2 2005, 14:48:32 UTC

Thanks. You're a star.

anonymous December 1 2005, 22:50:59 UTC

If you want to make sure it's blank and any data is beyond recovery, I'd suggest using a boot disk with the FORMAT and DEFRAG utilities on it (any standard Windows setup disk should do) and run a format (type "format c:") followed by a defragment (type "defrag c:" and follow the on-screen prompts).

This ought to not only wipe all data but also scupper anyone's attempts to unformat it.

However, that's probably more than strictly necessary - unless, as someone else said, you've got some deeply personal stuff on there that you think someone will go to lengths to find.

If you're that worried, I'd suggest removing the hard disk before you dispose of the machine and keep it.

_marauder_ December 1 2005, 22:52:09 UTC

Oops. Didn't log in

gigib December 2 2005, 14:48:55 UTC

Thanks for that. You're a star.