Hey guys…I’m thinking of selling my old laptop through Craigslist or something. Not planning on getting major bucks for it, but some money is beter than no money. I’d like to, off course, clear out the Hard Drive - i.e. personal files, games, pix, etc.
Is there software out there that I can clear that out for me? I have copied all the files I’d like to keep, I just don’t feel like manually deleting all files etc…
Yeah, there’s lots of freeware out there will perform this function. Look for a utility that conforms to DoD 5220.22M.
Here’s one that comes up immediately (although the free version isn’t fully 5220.22 compliant, it will likely server your needs):
Thanks - I’ll check it out…
Yes, KillDisk does work well. I am sure you know, but from your last sentence, just want to be sure that you do. Deleting files with important data does not remove them from the HDD, just from the FAT. They can be retrieved. So it is essential to use something that completely obliterates the data.
In fact, many indentify thieves scan For Sale columns, Craigslist, etc just trolling for cheap used computers, as they know they frequently have files of credit card numbers, bank numbers, passwords, etc that have just been deleted, and can be retrieved.
Even formatting the HDD may not be enough.
Good luck on the sale.
Look for a utility that does multiple overwrites of all empty space on the hard drive, and run it after deleting all sensitive files. If you still have the original system CD(s), you can run a wipe utility that will scrub your hard drive completely (thus assuring that you got everything), then reinstall the OS and whatever other software originally came bundled with the computer.
This article describes a few options, some of them free-as-in-beer.