Wiping a computer clean

[LwnmwnMan2]

I'm probably going to be selling a netbook that I've been carrying from Verizon, and I'd like to wipe it clean.

Is there a fairly easy way to do this? Or should I just run it into the local computer shop that I use?

I'd like to return it to the state it was when I bought it, with no traces of any of my personal info.

[upnorth]

Do you have the media to re-install the operating system?

[LwnmwnMan2]

No, the netbook doesn't come with media since there's no cd/dvd drive.

[hoggs222]

Can you contact verizon and see if they have some software that you can DL or a certain function you can use on the netbook? You might be able to get the software on a USB flash drive.

[upnorth]

Many also have a restore partition that houses all the re-install files. But it is hard to say without seeing it. If you open my computer it would up labeled in some fashion other than drive C:\ and no telling what it would be named.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Yes, there's a restore option. If I restore to the date that I bought it, would it wipe all of my info from the computer?

[Matt C]

Is the restore on a different drive/partition? Best way to clean it of your 'finger prints" is to do a low level format.

[upnorth]

You could try it and see what it looks like. What kind of data did you have on it? CCleaner has a remove and wipe feature where it writes over deleted data so it is much harder to retrieve.

[LwnmwnMan2]

I used the computer to access my bank accounts, email, logmein.com and most importantly, my screen name from HSO!

I don't know if it's on a different drive / partition.

[upnorth]

Go into my computer and see if there is a 2nd drive. If so double click on it to get in, from there it may be just a matter of double clicking an app.

[MN Mike]

In the few that I have dealt with, when you turn the netbook on, during or just after the manufacture splash screen you should be able to press the F12 key and get a advanced menu that might let you restore your computer back to the way it was when you first got it and all of your data will be gone once you run the restore process.

Mike

[spearchucker]

Yes, there's a restore option. If I restore to the date that I bought it, would it wipe all of my info from the computer?

If this is the restore function built into Windows then it will only restore system files and won't touch your personal files that you have on the drive.

[fivebucks]

Take a big magnet to the hard drive - that should whip it out

[spearchucker]

Take a big magnet to the hard drive - that should whip it out

And possibly wreck it for good.

[fivebucks]

Yea - I guess I shouldn't say things like that cause people will do what they read on the internet. Seriously though we magnet our hard drives for trash computers before we recycle them.

[pureinsanity]

Yea - I guess I shouldn't say things like that cause people will do what they read on the internet. Seriously though we magnet our hard drives for trash computers before we recycle them.

I put .45 caliber rounds through my hard drives