what to do with old laptop before I get rid of it (hard drive, how to)

[KittenSparkles]

I have an old laptop I want to get rid of. But I don't want any personal information left on it.

What should I do to clean it up?

Suggestions appreciated!!

[NHDave]

Is it being scrapped/recycled or given to someone else for re-use?

[KittenSparkles]

It is being recycled/scrapped - I will take it to a place that accepts old electronic devices for recycling.

[NHDave]

Then I would remove the hard drive and either reuse it for backup in an external enclosure or destroy it. If you don't want to do that then I'd wipe it with DBAN Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing

[KittenSparkles]

Originally Posted by NHDave

Then I would remove the hard drive and either reuse it for backup in an external enclosure or destroy it. If you don't want to do that then I'd wipe it with DBAN Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing

Thank you.

How hard is it to remove the hard drive?

[NHDave]

Depends on the laptop, most Windows based ones have a bay on the bottom with a couple screws holding the cover on, pop it off, and maybe a couple more screws to pop the drive out. What's the make/model?

[KittenSparkles]

Its a Dell Inspirion E1405

[NHDave]

See the first part of this video, very first thing shown is removal of the hard drive.


DELL E1405 laptop take apart video, disassemble, how to open disassembly - YouTube

[KittenSparkles]

oh that looks like something even I could do!

thanks!!!