# Sanitizing A Computer **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905 "2005-04-18T16:07:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/1 "2005-04-18T16:07:20Z")
I recently got a new desktop computer and will be giving my old one to a local non-profit organization. But before I do I would like to, i esssence, sanitize it before I do. I don’t want to give them something with all sorts of garbage on there, partially for my own protection (don’t need them to have personal info or anyting else that might be embarrasing) but also so that they can have something that isn’t so clunky running. I am not just talking abut spyware, but getting the computer down to it’s bare windows necessities. Is there an easy way to do this? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/2 "2005-04-18T16:11:12Z")
Reinstalling windows, if possible, seems to me to be a pretty fast and secure solution. If you can’t do this then I guess you’ll have to uninstall everything that you put on it and make sure that you haven’t left anything personal on it, but I don’t know of a program that’s going to do all this for you without a little bit of work from you. ---
**Author:** ![guinnog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@guinnog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guinnog)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/3 "2005-04-18T16:18:12Z")
> [@Cat Jones](#): > > Reinstalling windows, if possible, seems to me to be a pretty fast and secure solution. > > If you can’t do this then I guess you’ll have to uninstall everything that you put on it and make sure that you haven’t left anything personal on it, but I don’t know of a program that’s going to do all this for you without a little bit of work from you. Agreed. Reformat the HD and reinstall Windows should do it. Should take less than an hour. John ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/4 "2005-04-18T16:20:54Z")
Remember that if it’s ME or XP then by doing an ‘update’ it won’t get rid of the files already on the system but put them away in another folder. As guinnog said, a format will do the job for you. ---
**Author:** ![Boldface\_Type](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@Boldface\_Type](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boldface_Type)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/5 "2005-04-18T16:37:55Z")
Autoclave. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/6 "2005-04-18T17:04:17Z")
They cannot use your copy of Windows so don’t bother (unless you’re giving them your license). Pull the old HD out of your computer and put it in the new one. Google any “wipe” program. Format the HD and then wipe it. ---
**Author:** ![guinnog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@guinnog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guinnog)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/7 "2005-04-18T17:09:31Z")
> [@badmana](#): > > They cannot use your copy of Windows so don’t bother (unless you’re giving them your license). > > Pull the old HD out of your computer and put it in the new one. Google any “wipe” program. Format the HD and then wipe it. So you would be giving the non-profit org a computer lacking a HD and an operating system? Seems to me you would be as well then just to recycle it… Old HDs tend to be too small to usefully benefit from in a newish machine as well. John ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/8 "2005-04-18T17:18:42Z")
> [@guinnog](#): > > So you would be giving the non-profit org a computer lacking a HD and an operating system? Seems to me you would be as well then just to recycle it… > > Old HDs tend to be too small to usefully benefit from in a newish machine as well. > > John Oh, sorry, I meant use the new computer to format and wipe the old HD and then return it to the old computer blank. If you want you could install a free OS like Linux if they wanted to make sure it worked 😃 . The OS cannot be just given to another person as that would be a copyright violation. Most likely the non-profit has a special license to run their copy of Windows (as you cannot change keys without registry editing, they might as well do a clean install themselves). ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/9 "2005-04-18T18:03:52Z")
But can I transfer my computer and the OS license as well? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/10 "2005-04-18T19:00:24Z")
Try [ELX Linux](http://www.elxlinux.com/). Plays well with windows. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/11 "2005-04-18T19:05:44Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > But can I transfer my computer and the OS license as well? I’m pretty sure MS allows at least a one time transfer of the license, provided you also give them all documentation, installation discs, and CD keys. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/12 "2005-04-18T19:16:51Z")
> [@badmana](#): > > They cannot use your copy of Windows so don’t bother (unless you’re giving them your license). What? I thought the license was bound to the system, so that if I sell or give someone my PC, I can also give them the Windows OS that came with the system. Isn’t that why the product key is on the side of the system? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/13 "2005-04-18T21:23:14Z")
Look for sdelete.exe. This is freeware, and it overwrites your free space multiple times with 1s and 0s. Delete all your data files, clear your caches, then run sdelete to clean the free disk space. It might be overkill, but it’s easy to do. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/14 "2005-04-18T21:32:01Z")
> [@](#): > > …I thought the license was bound to the system, so that if I sell or give someone my PC, I can also give them the Windows OS that came with the system… - - - It is, and you can, as long as you include all the media that came with the license. The Copyright Act states that the owner of a lawful copy can “sell or otherwise dispose of” the copy. - Media providers keep wanting to thing that when you buy their stuff, they can attach a multitude of conditions that govern all future use, sales or transfers of it, or even force you to agree to conditions that _prevent_ specific types of use, or sales or transfers. When challenged in court, **they lose**. Originally (in the US), movie companies only wanted video stores to _sell_ movies, not _rent_ them. You can see how far that went in court. - Eraser is the name of one program for wiping data, you make a “Nuke Disk” and boot off it, and then it will overwrite the entire hard drives in various ways. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitizing-a-computer/299905/15 "2005-04-18T21:32:43Z")
Precisely. Badmana said “unless you are giving them your licence”, which it sounds like it is your intention to do.