Need help with formatting

[matt39c]

Ok so I'm selling my computer on eBay and i want to delete everything on there such as my personal stuff. At the same time, I don't want to delete important things that the buyer might need like Microsoft office, security etc etc. What would be the easiest way to do this, I'm not to keen on spending hours going through deleting everything i want to. I want it to end up like a fresh computer that has just come off the store shelf.

cheers

 

[*= WildCat =*]

Ok so I'm selling my computer on eBay and i want to delete everything on there such as my personal stuff. At the same time, I don't want to delete important things that the buyer might need like Microsoft office, security etc etc. What would be the easiest way to do this, I'm not to keen on spending hours going through deleting everything i want to. I want it to end up like a fresh computer that has just come off the store shelf.

cheers

Hi matt39c you would be better off selling with a blank Hard Drive ... suggest DBAN

 

[jmacavali]

I wouldn't include anything on it. Either blank the hard drive or at the very least do a factory restore using the CD's that came with it.

 

[matt39c]

ok cheers ill give that DBAN thing a go. Stupid question but that wont remove the operating system will it?

 

[Fujitsu_Technician]

yes completley removes the operating system and it's contents windows would need to be reinstalled and its applications such as office unless you use factory cd's that have office pre installed nothing will be left.

Kind Regards

 

[matt39c]

yes completley removes the operating system and it's contents windows would need to be reinstalled and its applications such as office unless you use factory cd's that have office pre installed nothing will be left.

Kind Regards

ahh ok. is there any program that will keep the OS and office?

cheers

 

[Fujitsu_Technician]

not that I know of you will just have to go though the files and delete them all using

the program File Sredder


and once you have deleted all personel files you wanted to delete off of there then

you will have to run CCleaner to get rid of the junk files and left overs it will not be

like off the self but it will be good enough. at leat that is the only way without

starting again.


Kind Regards

 

[Xinam]

Ok so I'm selling my computer on eBay and i want to delete everything on there such as my personal stuff. At the same time, I don't want to delete important things that the buyer might need like Microsoft office, security etc etc. What would be the easiest way to do this, I'm not to keen on spending hours going through deleting everything i want to. I want it to end up like a fresh computer that has just come off the store shelf.

cheers

Just do a factory reset! It'll restore the system to the day you first got it, assuming its a retail machine not a custom build. Don't bother updating it after the reset, let the buyer worry about that. Job done.

 

[OhSnapWord]

If' it's a custom build, DBAN the drive and either install Linux or leave the drive blank.

This would work assuming you didn't list in the description that it would have Windows and Office.

 

[strollin]

I'll never understand why people are so paranoid and feel that whatever they had on their drive is so important that someone would even bother to try to recover their personal data.

I've sold many systems over the last 30 years and I have just done a format and clean install of the OS. Part of the selling features of a system is the OS ( as well as a hard drive) so removing the OS or selling it without a hard drive means it will sell for less. Used systems are already being sold for much less than it cost to buy them, why take the extra hit?

Yes, if someone put their mind to it they could probably recover some of the personal data you had on the machine but the odds of that happening, as well as the odds that they would recover anything useful, are very slim.

At most, I would consider using a program like File Shredder that Fujitsu Technician provided the link to above.

You can do what you what but I don't think it's worth the effort.