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Giving My Laptop Away - Clean wipe?

Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
edited April 2011 in Help / Advice Forum
Hi guys, I'm getting a new laptop and am giving away my old one to my brother-in-law. For the obvious reasons, I want to wipe the hard drive on it clean without resorting to a "Nuke from Orbit". There are legitimate versions of Windows Vista and Office 2007 on the computer, and I don't want to go through the hassle of re-installing everything.

Is there an easy and thorough way that I can wipe everything on the laptop while keeping all the software licenses intact? He's not computer-savvy, so I'm not worried about him going in and retrieving deleted files or stuff like that. I just want to be able to hand off a clean computer that doesn't have all my random crap lying around, like Steam credentials.

Inquisitor77 on

Posts

  • FantasmaFantasma Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    You may try the following, let me know how things go:

    http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/wiping-free-disk-space

    Fantasma on
    Hear my warnings, unbelievers. We have raised altars in this land so that we may sacrifice you to our gods. There is no hope in opposing the inevitable. Put down your arms, unbelievers, and bow before the forces of Chaos!
  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    By "deleted files or stuff like that" you mean "all that porn?"

    Uninstall/delete all the stuff, clear your cache/personal data/temp folders, and then wipe the free space using Eraser because it's better than CCleaner.

    PeregrineFalcon on
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  • UnknownUnknown
    edited April 2011
    This content has been removed.

  • illigillig Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Just bc he's not computer savvy, doesn't mean that he can't decide to get rid of the laptop ( or have it stolen or lose) it. So you should still treat it as if you're dropping it off at a hacker convention just to be safe. Besides, installing a fresh OS will make the machine perform better anyway.

    illig on
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited April 2011
    This content has been removed.

  • FantasmaFantasma Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    PeregrineFalcon wrote: »
    By "deleted files or stuff like that" you mean "all that porn?"

    Uninstall/delete all the stuff, clear your cache/personal data/temp folders, and then wipe the free space using Eraser because it's better than CCleaner.

    CCleaner can do all you list here.

    Fantasma on
    Hear my warnings, unbelievers. We have raised altars in this land so that we may sacrifice you to our gods. There is no hope in opposing the inevitable. Put down your arms, unbelievers, and bow before the forces of Chaos!
  • Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Hey now, all my porn is stored on an encrypted, password-protected external drive...

    Sounds like my "easiest" option is just re-installing everything. Unfortunately I no longer have the disks or serial keys from my original installs. Will it work if I just bum the disks from someone else, or will I need to have that information handy?

    Inquisitor77 on
  • MushroomStickMushroomStick Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    You'll at least need the product key, which will usually be on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop.

    MushroomStick on
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