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Topic: Sold My Computer |
George Redmon
From:
Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.
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Posted 1 Sep 2005 8:37 pm |
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| I just sold my old computer. I want to make sure i got all the vital stuff off it. Like credit card numbers, where i bought something on line, or my banking pin number, things like that. Is there something else i should do? like something hidden? a file, cookies? i have removed everything i can think of. |
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jolynyk
From:
Prince Albert Sask. Canada
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Posted 1 Sep 2005 10:52 pm
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| George, I reformatted the hard drive, & reinstalled Windows.. John |
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erik
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Posted 2 Sep 2005 3:11 am
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You can buy programs, perhaps download freeware that wipes the hard drive. Reformatting does not guarentee that info could not be discovered. I have a program from maxtor that rewrites the drive with ones and zeros. It takes many minutes to do. Formatting only takes seconds. What does that tell you?
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-johnson
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 2 Sep 2005 4:32 am
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| There are many "security erase" programs around. That would be the best way to go. They write specific patterns on the drive and makes the data on it, for all practical purposes, unreadable. |
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Jeff Agnew
From:
Dallas, TX
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Posted 2 Sep 2005 4:41 am
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George,
When your computer deletes files, it doesn't remove them from the hard drive -- it just makes available the space they occupy so that they *may* be overwritten when needed.
Think of it like this: imagine the computer is a book with a table of contents. If we remove the chapter information from the table of contents, the chapter text itself is still there. Anyone willing to page through the book can find it. You can't go directly to it unless you know the page number, but you can find it.
So when you deleted your private info from your hard drive, you took out the information in the table of contents. A motivated person buying your computer can retrieve the info.
There are indeed several shareware/freeware tools that will "wipe" your drive by repeatedly writing random patterns of 1s and 0s. Even this is not secure enough for industrial-level security, such as secret government data. There are tools that can reclaim data after it has been "wiped", or even after the drive has been reformatted. But unless you're dealing with professional crackers you shouldn't worry about this type of recovery.
At a minimum, re-format your drive using low-level formatting. High-level formatting simply re-writes the file allocation table (again, like a table of contents) and leaves your files recoverable. But a low-level format will leave your data safe from casual recovery.
If you're very concerned about your data, you might consider first wiping the drive clean with a shareware program, then performing a low-level format. This will take quite some time, especially if it's a large drive.
As always, security is a trade-off process, not an absolute. You may wish to evaluate how much time and effort you want to expend. Then you can determine the best cleaning method that balances the sensitivity of your data with the level of protection you need. |
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George Redmon
From:
Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.
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Posted 2 Sep 2005 5:25 am
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| wow...i never knew this stuff. I will certainly do ALL of the above. Thank You so very much for the info. Just think i just about sent it out the door. I will take the time to clear it out. |
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Al Marcus
From:
Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)
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Posted 2 Sep 2005 7:52 am
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George-Aint this Forum great? I learned a lot today. I am getting a new computer soon and this is good informatin to know....al 
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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/
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George Redmon
From:
Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.
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Posted 2 Sep 2005 8:37 am
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| Hi my fellow Michigander and good friend Al Marcus...this forum has saved my butt, repaired my gear, sold unwanted gear, gave me a smile when depressed, a invaluable learning tool, kept me up to date on whats new, what not to buy, who is honest, how to repair my amp, steel..you name it, i would be completely lost without my Forum, you bet, and the new friendships i have made here are priceless.... |
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Jim Peters
From:
St. Louis, Missouri, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 2 Sep 2005 1:52 pm
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George, before you wipe out that hard drive, make sure the buyer knows there will be no OS on it. Windows XP Home is close to a hundred bucks.
do a search for pms drive wiper, it is a good free (trial version) program that will do what you want. JP |
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erik
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Posted 2 Sep 2005 4:05 pm
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Just curious:
Is it possible to wipe clean a HD or scramble the data using some sort of magnet?
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-johnson
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