How to Delete/Wipe ALL the contents out of my LapTop? (CD, laptops)
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Click "Start" and enter Recovery in the search field.
Select "Recovery Manager" from the list. ...
Select "System recovery." Your computer will go ahead and reboot and reload the "Recovery Manager."
Select "System recovery" and click "Next."
Select "Back up your files first (recommended)" option, and then click "Next."
It will give you the option to return your computer to factory settings.
( DO NOT pick “ back up files”).
If you still have issues.. there are many YouTube videos on how to return Compac back to factory settings. Good luck!
Last edited by Sydney123; 09-12-2020 at 03:46 PM..
To be absolutely assured all data is gone
Remove the hard drive. Have it crushed. Then dip it in battery acid. Toss away the now defunct hard drive.
Go buy a used or cheap hard drive. Put it in. Donate with the note: needs operating system.
Click "Start" and enter Recovery in the search field.
Select "Recovery Manager" from the list. ...
Select "System recovery." Your computer will go ahead and reboot and reload the "Recovery Manager."
Select "System recovery" and click "Next."
Select "Back up your files first (recommended)" option, and then click "Next."
It will give you the option to return your computer to factory settings.
( DO NOT pick “ back up files”).
If you still have issues.. there are many YouTube videos on how to return Compac back to factory settings. Good luck!
Thank you for the information Sydney123!
I just finished doing what you said and it is now boxed up ready to go.
Have a great weekend
Much easier to encrypt the hard drive, especially if it’s a SSD. Just use a really long pass phrase of 16 or more letters and numbers. The data are scrambled (it might take several hours) and without the pass to decrypt, it is just gibberish to anyone who tries to snoop it.
Anyone with versed tech knowledge would be insulted by the method advised in your post. It did not wipe out the data from the hard drive. It created a band aide for the operating system. The data is still on the disk.
I took the ops inquiry to mean complete removal of data .
Anyone with versed tech knowledge would be insulted by the method advised in your post. It did not wipe out the data from the hard drive. It created a band aide for the operating system. The data is still on the disk.
I took the ops inquiry to mean complete removal of data .
Agreed. There are a couple ways to come pretty close to guaranteed wipe out such as use a CD based 'live' OS such as Linux to reformat the drive with a Linux format, load Linux on it, then reload it with a a Windows recovery CD (assuming you want Windows on it) But the best way is to remove and destroy the drive
Simply doing a factory reset just changes the (well known) index information but leaves all the raw data in place, assuming that as the disk it is used it will be overwritten. But for someone who knows where to look a lot of information can be pulled off.
The good thing is that most donated laptops go to reputable organizations who do their best to make sure nothing leaks through.
anyone with versed tech knowledge would be insulted by the method advised in your post. It did not wipe out the data from the hard drive. It created a band aide for the operating system. The data is still on the disk.
I took the ops inquiry to mean complete removal of data .
+2
Your data is still on the hard drive and easily accessible to someone with bad intentions. The drive can be wiped with any of a number of free software apps, but if you want to be REALLY SURE, remove the hard drive and donate the computer without it. Have the drive shredded at the next local shredding event.
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