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General discussion

Getting rid of old computer; what should I do before proceeding?

Jan 27, 2012 7:26AM PST
Question:

Getting rid of old computer; what should I do before proceeding?


Hello, everyone, I had an old Windows desktop computer given to me by my son when he got his Apple and now I have upgraded to a HP laptop. My question is how do I destroy all the personal information on the old desktop, including all bank details? I got rid of the keyboard, speakers, etc., but I still have the main box that holds all the info. I am scared to throw it out, and it has been sitting in the corner of the room for nearly three years and is an eyesore. What are my options--as to what do I need to do specifically? A detailed explanation and step-by-step procedures are needed. Please help me; I would be ever so grateful. Many thanks.

- Submitted by: Shirley H.

Discussion is locked

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Getting rid of old computer; have you transferred the data?
Jan 29, 2012 11:20AM PST

I did not see any indication as to whether you transferred, backed up, copied data to DVD or any other indication of whether you still need that data or not.

Can you let us know?

Also, what type and size of hard drive do you have? You can check that information by directly viewing the 3.5" hard drive itself. It should have manufacturer, model and size i.e., GB storage.

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(NT) Smash it!
Jan 29, 2012 11:07PM PST
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easy removal
Feb 1, 2012 1:43PM PST

all you need is a philips head screw driver and a hammer use screw driver to remove outer case use hammer to remove hard drive then throw hard drive in fire place overnight

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Quick and Dirty
Feb 2, 2012 7:16AM PST

Download a program called Darik's Boot and Nuke, or DBAN for short. Follow the simple program instructions and run it. CAUTION!! Make darn sure you're absolutely done with all the information you want off that old pc because once run, DBAN will fry and overwrite EVERYTHING multiple times including the system files, rendering your old machine useless until another operating system is installed. Re-install your operating system if you wish to give away or sell your old machine or simply dispose of it as you see fit. Physical destruction is just about the only other way you're going to destroy the information and it wouldn't hurt to take a hammer to the drive after running DBAN just to be on the safe side. Living in the U.K. will not allow you easy access to firearms and while some of the other suggested destruction methods sound like fun, I'm betting you find them not very practical. If you have access to strong magnets, leaving them sitting on top of the old drive overnight will make an even further mess of the data and make it unrecoverable as the standard (non solid state) drive is a magnetic storage medium and strong magnetic fields wreak havoc with them.

Heard a story once of a gal who used to take her floppy disc (yes, a looonng time ago) which was also a magnetic storage medium and stick it to the fridge with a magnet before going to bed and wouldn't you know it, by morning, her work was gone and she couldn't figure out why!

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Also, check your local/state regulations
Feb 3, 2012 9:21AM PST

Everyone here is correct in telling you to destroy the hard drive; however, check your state/county/local disposal regulations as well.

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Cleaning the Disk on Your Old Computer
Feb 3, 2012 9:28AM PST

When I recycle my old computers or those donated by other people, I use either of two programs to clean the hard drives: Drive Scrubber from iolo tech, or NOVA Development's Drive Erase. Either of these programs can do the job, whether you only wish to clear out your personal data or you want to erase the whole disk to prepare for a new system.

If you live anywhere near Pittsburgh, PA, you might also try the Pittsburgh Computer Outlet on Braddock Avenue or the either of the Goodwill Computer Stores.

Leo Toribio
Pittsburgh, PA

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the army way
Feb 3, 2012 9:30AM PST

army Ssgt for 15 years how we did it was shoot it take out hdd shoot it then set it on fire the burry everything last left quick easy and forsure way to clear the drive lol have fun

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your choice
Feb 3, 2012 9:50AM PST

for a desktop.. just Google "How do I remove a hard drive from ....and the make and model..." then just remove the hard drive... use it as a backup external drive by getting a case for it... or secure it in a deep dark location in your closet .. or remove it and beat the heck out of it to crush it... all your choice... I would NOT use a software program to remove or wipe clean your data

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Think about yourself first, and others second...
Feb 3, 2012 9:53AM PST

I run a tech recycle and repair "no profit - no charge" foundation. The first thing I do when given a donated computer is to wipe the drive with a Department of Defense plus overwrite with verification of the hard drive of a minimum of 12 times. D. O. D. only requires an overwrite with verification of 3 times. The second thing I do is to pull the CMOS battery and set the jumper (if equipped) to clear any passwords that might remain. All software is virus cleaned and verified before installation. Any personal items found in the drives, card readers, and inside the computer are retuurned immediately without viewing or running. The whole purpose is not to make any money on getting a complete computer system to people who may not even have a radio, TV, or any other "tech" items that we so often take for granted these days. Most of the jobs postings are online and most people that do not have a computer are computer illiterate. I install specialized training software if they need help and teach free classes and provide free support and service for the life of the owners. A major TV station just had a free recycle program and it was very successful with several tractor trailers loaded up to the top. However, most were stripped for the resaleable items that almost immediately showed up on Ebay and Craig's List, for a sizeable profit. However most of the bulk of the computers went into the dump, polluting for years. Think before you act for your own protection. Then act so that what you can no longer use, might still be used by others who can not afford to have what you have...

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Old Computer
Feb 3, 2012 10:11AM PST

If you haven't destroyed the hard drive yet, here is what I recommend:
If you do have anything worth keeping (which would most likely be pictures), copy it to another source. The most common sources are USB flash drives, compact discs (CDs), and external hard drives, all of which you would be able to find at Wal*Mart or Best Buy. From what I read, it sounds like there is not much data that you are wanting to keep, but if you have pictures of family members and/or yourself from early childhood or infancy, those are irreplaceable and would be lost permanently if they are on the hard drive and you simply destroyed it. Most of the software that is on it likely is retrievable if you wish to do that. Although, if the computer ran Windows 98 or below, then even replacing some of the software may be a challenge. It is much more important that you save anything of sentimental value first though (such as pictures or digital copies of certain documents such as birth certificates, high school diplomas, or college degrees).

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DBan
Feb 3, 2012 10:16AM PST

I work for a charity (reachIT.org) that takes donated computers and the first thing we do to assure donor's privacy is run DBAN (


Darik's Boot And Nuke, dban.org). If that fails during the process, we remove and physically destroy the disk. After running DBAN on your hard drive, you can donate your old computer to charity knowing your personal information is long gone.

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Deleting all data on your old computer to be got rid of
Feb 3, 2012 10:17AM PST

My personal experience is that no software will fully remove your personal data.The only sure way is to
delete the OPERATING SYSTEM. The person who is buying the old computer can install fresh any OS.

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This is actually a very opinion-based question.
Feb 3, 2012 10:59AM PST

I am very opposed to physically destroying drives that are still re-usable, and that includes some of the smaller sizes (for those older museum pieces).

As such I provide a "local" service whereby any machine that passes through my hands gets the software wipe and a complete re-installation.

There are more and more recycling "computer banks" popping up who
undertake to destroy all drive data before turning the machine into a
donation to a needy student, elderly person who just wants email etc..

However, when a drive has physically failed (and these days most such failures are Beyond Economical Repair, the chances of the data being randomly recovered by the man in the street are very low, and I don't see my drives ending up in the hands of the HiTechs who can salvage data that is worthless to them.

This is the opportunity to have fun. The very act of opening the drive and allowing atmospheric moisture in has probably already made your data irretrievable. Drill a hole, fill it with sand, plug it back in and let it run for a while--data well and truly stuffed. I even put one through an electric hacksaw. Those platters were never going to spin again.

I could also suggest a chemical method of destroying the drive, but it is far too dangerous and requires the ability to run very fast. It's one to leave to "Mythbusters".

Summary: If the drive works, I suggest software destruction. If the drive has failed, drilling a few holes through it will be more than adequate.

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It's easy!
Feb 3, 2012 11:42AM PST

First of all, make a backup copy of all your documents and data files like e-mails and such. Then search for a copy of DBAN (Disk Boot And Nuke) and put it on a diskette or CD. When ready, insert the diskette or CD into the drive and reboot your computer. DBAN has 6 or 7 different Wipes so pick one of the two DoD wipes and start the program. The DoD wipes write all ones (1) then writes all zeros (0). The write cycle is repeated several times for the quicker of the two and the other repeats seven (7) times. Once you start, it will run until complete and that means everything on the drive is gone, totally, including Sector marks and blocking data. The drive can be made to run again, but all data and perograms previously loaded will be gone 100%.

When it's clean, donate it to a Thrift shop or non-profit to process. Removing the hard drive and pounding it with a hammer is hard work AND you still have to get rid of the drive. Same with disassembling it, A disassembled drive could be reassembled by some one who has the know-how. DBAN is much easier and safer.

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A neat way to handle this situation.
Feb 3, 2012 11:48AM PST

Yes, you can literally destroy the hard disk but you have to open the case which has dozens of screws, then open it where you can see the disks. Take a sledge hammer and pound it to death or the easier way is just remove the drive and keep it forever. The drive itself is quite small and you may be able to use it as a spare. Hope this helps.

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Just....
Feb 3, 2012 11:48AM PST

shoot it with a 12 gauge. Works 100% of the time.

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Please do not destroy a reusable resource
Feb 3, 2012 12:11PM PST

I'm a member of the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind through a local chapter. We collect used computers which we clearly and loudly ask for them to be professionally erased at a shop. From businesses we have not gotten any unscrubbed hard drives but from the public we get the entire box of cookies with all programs and documents on them. You are one of the smart ones. Now, what we do with the used computers - the ones that haven't been scrubbed - is to load a CD with a copy of 'The Ultimate Boot CD' which contains several utilities to erase the hard drive to choose from depending on the amount of memory your old computer has. Once the drive is scrubbed (securely erased and overwritten) we then install Vinux which is an Ubuntu/Linux operating system. This further rewrites the drive with a totally different file structure (from Microsoft to Linux) plus it overwrites the disk with a new operating system. There is no practical way to retrieve any of the old disk contents.
Vinux is Ubuntu which has been re-scripted to fully activate the accessibility features of Ubuntu for the visually impaired. It can be installed on most computers that ran XP well. We then give the computers to anyone who qualifies as vision impaired, very low vision to blind and even deaf/blind who can use the computer to gain a new social life, a chance to learn to operate a computer, gain skills and hopefully gain a chance at employment or better employment. A deaf/blind user will need a Braille display of course, but that will be up to the user to purchase, and Vinux is compatible with Braille displays.
Can you do this yourself? Probably not, but contact some computer shops near you and see if any of them have contacts with either a blind organisation, a church or perhaps the Salvation Army who can give the computer to someone who can use it. Also, of course, have the shop erase your hard drive and install Vinux. Info for Vinux can be found at distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=vinux
Please don't destroy someone's chance at a better life.

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(NT) Well-stated
Feb 3, 2012 7:10PM PST
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Ma gift or a server
Feb 3, 2012 2:04PM PST

You can give it ti somebody who can afford one or use it as a server, well,dependes of your tech knowledge.If you going to to give it to someone just erase the hdd with a freeware or returning your operating system to factory settings.However, most computer vendors no longer ship out a copy of the Windows
installation CD with their computers. Instead, the computer ships with a
recovery partition or recovery disk. Each vendor uses their own
particular type of solution, but the basics of them are the same. The
most common names used by each company for their recovery solution can
be found below. Note that manufacturers do change names from time to
time - usually it will simply be something with the vendor's brand name
and the word "recovery" included after it.A 3 year old PC is still a good machine.

My brother still had Win 98 running with no mess!

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Getting rid of old computer; what should I do before proceed
Feb 3, 2012 3:02PM PST

Fill your hard drive (completely) with movies, music, etc. This will overwrite your data and after formatting and reinstalling the new system, the only thing that can be retrieved from it!

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All right.
Feb 3, 2012 4:20PM PST

So, first of all I would need to know what version it is. The newer Windows Computers have a feature that will quickly transfer all the documents, either by removable storage, wireless networks or a USB cable.
If the computer is older, then you might have to manually move all the documents using preferably a USB flash drive or if you have money - an external hard drive.
<div>
Next for the email. You will have to remove the email accounts on your old email program.
Then you would go to your new computer with your new email program and add that email account. Make sure you remember the password! If you don't understand me, say which email programs you use and I will help you more.
</div>

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Drive erasure is the actual answer
Feb 3, 2012 9:13PM PST

I'll admit first off, I didn't read all the other responses, but most I DID see touted removing the hard drive, or hitting it with a hammer. Neither of these approaches will secure your data, however, although one will make it tougher, while removing the HDD merely leaves you with a useless piece of metal to deal with later.

Read this article:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/how-to-really-erase-a-hard-drive/129

As a security professional for almost 30 years, this is basically the route I take. If you're not a security professional, that's about the only way you'll erase your data, which is really what you want to do. You don't want a HDD to lug around with you forever, that you may not ever again be able to access without the correct computer interface, which is what you're trying to get rid of.

Once you've erased the drive, take it to Best Buy, and they'll take the hazardous stuff off your hands for free. If you don't have a Best Buy near you, you'll have to call the city recycling center to figure out how to get rid of it safely, without contaminating landfills. Computers contain many things we don't want in the ground or ground water.

Best Buy also claims they perform data destruction on all systems turned in, so you may be able to go that route, and not worry about a thing, but personally, i'd rather destroy my own data.

Best of luck!
Chase

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itunes
Feb 3, 2012 9:36PM PST

If you use itunes, you may want to deauthorize that computer before you destroy it, if you still have keyboard so that you can boot up. You are limited to how many computers you can have on itunes and if you don't deauthorize computers as you replace them you can reach the limit. There is a way to do a process that deauthorizes them all if you reach your limit and you have to reauthorize the ones you are still using but it's easier to just deauthorize computers as you retire them unless of course the hard drive died and then you are stuck.

~Sue

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Re-cycle is best
Feb 3, 2012 10:02PM PST
Getting rid of your old commputer

Dont destroy your hard drive, there are a lot of charitable organisations who will take in your old PC and re-cycle them.
They will also securely wipe and overwrite the discs, so that no data can be recovered.
Mant local authorities use these services as do health boards, police and many business's.

The recycled computers are then sold on at a very small some, from perhaps £30 to thos who cannot afford new. you shouls ask any company you contact for the manes of organisations they re-cycle from and check them out.

Some of the re-cycling organisations also run projects to bring Silver Surfers into using computers, mostly the elderly who form a PC club within there area.
Having for many years been a volunteer for such an organisation and seen the waste in discarded PC's, this must be a far better way to go.
Or you can do it yourself

Check it out here
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/how-to-really-erase-a-hard-drive/129
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What a Bunch of WEIRD Responses!
Feb 3, 2012 10:33PM PST

There is a really easy way to ensure that, barring taking the thing to the NSA for a really high-tech data extraction, you will destroy all of your data and leave it unrecoverable. Indeed, even the NSA might not be able to help.

Download the freeware program Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN). This comes as an .iso file that you use to create a bootable CD. After you have the CD, start the old computer, insert the CD in the CD Drive, and reboot the computer. Follow the prompts and it will destroy all the data on the drive, including partition information and everything.

If you wish, you can just toss the thing into a landfill then or, even better, reload the original operating system from the disks you got, update it to current, and donate it to a local charity.

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Getting rid of old computer - consider the Black & Decker
Feb 3, 2012 11:30PM PST

Shirley, I noted one reply mentioned "smashing" the drive. I entertained the idea myself a while back, but don't own a blacksmith's anvil nor did I want to damage my (tile) garage floor, not to mention knocking an eye out with flying debris. Instead, I got out the electric drill and put 4 - 5 holes completely through the drives (I had 5 all with sensitive personal information on them). I was done with all 5 in under 10-minutes. Given the holes and likely static discharge from the high velocity drill bit and ensuing friction I assume destroyed the data well beyond anyone's ability to recover it including "NSA." No drill? Give it to a 12-year old and tell him it's indestructable (they love those kind of challenges at that age). KM

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Consider relative values and costs
Feb 4, 2012 12:44AM PST

If the computer hasn't been used for three years, your passwords, etc. which might be stored on it should be out of date and useless. Nonetheless, change all your passwords TODAY and every six months or so.
Securely and completely destroying all data on the disk seems to be overkill. The top security method is to feed the drive into a metal chipper, turning it into small chips of metal. This is used for nuclear secrets, etc. I doubt if you have any of them.
The extent to which you need to protect/destroy the drive contents depends on the value of the information. If you have nothing but old e-mails and documents, and no information which could prove embarrassing or subject you to blackmail, then simply making the drive unusable should suffice. Most of the information which could be used for identity theft is probably available on Google anyway. My point is: "nuclear secret"-level destruction is not necessary. Who is going to go to the trouble of extracting data from a ruined drive, unless there is a gain greater than the cost of doing so? (The cost is very high - bit-by-bit examination under an electron microscope takes time and expensive equipment.)
However, if there is stuff on the drive which might be of interest to future generations, you might want to just put it away on a shelf with old photographs and other memorabilia. Some great-grandchild might find it interesting - (but by then, they might not have the technology to access data on such an antique.)
(The data on an unused drive will deteriorate over time, due to the effect of external magnetism, especially the earth's magnetic field. The drive might not be readable in 100 years. I have some drives I use to archive photographic data - I refresh them annually. So storing the drive for the far future may not be as successful as you might wish - comparable to old photographs deteriorating over time.)
Blowing the drive up, putting bullets through it, performing a 'DOD-level' erasure, and other such solutions are really not necessary. Just break off the cable connections, or break the case with a hammer. Unless you are the custodian of nuclear secrets or similar high-value data, no-one will waste time repairing the disk to read your old e-mail.

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Use East-Tec DisposeSecure
Feb 4, 2012 12:52AM PST

Don't give away sensitive information with the old computers
that you or your company resells, donates or removes from operation.
Deleting all files, formatting the hard disk or using FDISK is
not enough to stop people to restore information using basic recovery
programs.
East-Tec DisposeSecure removes all traces of data from the hard
disk by overwriting and destroying every sector and bit of information.
East-Tec DisposeSecure meets and exceeds government and industry
security standards for the permanent erasure of digital information.
This the simple solution doesnt need remove or destroyed HDD with hamer or some ting like that.
you cant visit here http://www.east-tec.com/disposesecure/

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Getting rid of old computer; what should I do before proceed
Feb 4, 2012 4:13AM PST

I didn't hear anyone suggest a large powerful magnet applied to both sides of the hard drive. That should destroy any info on it and still make it possible to re-use the hard drive. Short of that, how about an acetylene torch. That should do it!

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Easier than you think.
Feb 5, 2012 2:43AM PST

If this was your home computer, there isn't probably much on it of interest to others, so it isn't very hard to make it "secure enough".
Just delete all of your user files and defrag. then take the harddrive out and smash it up with a big hammer. Very easy!
If you like to play, open the HD up and take out the magnets. string the disks up in a tree to chase off the squirrels, the weather and handling them will destroy the disks in a day or two.