How do I get my PC back to Day 1 Status for resale ?

[jon_kobeck1]

I bought a MAC and want to sell my 3 laptops on ebay. I remember once someone telling me there was a

way to get the pc back to the day it was taken out of the box. I want to delete all my files and clean it up.

Its XP

[dennisgg]

Hi Jon,

 

 

I do PC/LANs for banks. There are a few options:

 

Option #1

1) Delete your files normally

2) Uninstall software that you installed and are not including with the sale.

3) Reboot (and go in and make sure the uninstalled software's install folder is deleted

4) Download and install Eraser: (http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/download.php) This software will securely erase the data (delete your stuff normally and then this software will securely erase the deleted files leaving Windows and software intact). I use it at banks to secure their data of PC's that are retired.

 

Option #2

1) Download Boot and Nuke (http://dban.sourceforge.net/)

2) Boot PC with this - it will securely erase EVERYTHING (make sure you already have backed up what you want because it will NEVER come back)

3) Boot PC with the CD that came with the PC that will restore it to the factory install (if it came with one - Dell and HP are 2 companies that do).

 

Option #3

 

1) Download Boot and Nuke (http://dban.sourceforge.net/)

2) Boot PC with this - it will securely erase EVERYTHING (make sure you already have backed up what you want because it will NEVER come back)

3) Then reboot with the XP CD and just do a generic install (leave the other software and Windows updates to the new owner).

 

These options will keep your data secure and clean up the PC.

 

 

 

 

Dennis

[jon_kobeck1]

Dennis: thanks for those links. I have one problem, I lost the original CD's that came with the

Dells. What else can I do?

[ronald_moravec1]

Option 1 leaves the OS on the computer.

[b_hall1]

The XP computer might have a Recovery Partition. If so you just need to make a Recovery Tools CD from XP and then start the computer with the CD in. Then look for the Destructive recovery process in the menu...

[jim philopena]

There are forensic programs that allow anyone who can get them to restore some or most a disks data, even after formatting, wiping (with things like BC Wipe and that lot), and even Fire.

 

As a former computer security professional (my day job) and a network professional, the only way to to be sure no one gets your data off an old disk is to physically sand all the magnetic media off the metal platter. Disk drives are cheap. Take the old one's out and put in new. You're selling the laptop, not the software license (I believe the EULA says they are not transferable). And for what it's worth, Psychosoft has sold enough licenses of it's products to provide every living man, woman, child and dog with their own (IMHO).

[jpictures]

Depending on the age of the computer, one could obtain a copy of the original CDs that came with the computer. I believe it is more important that you maintain your privacy and remove all traces of software and data. I would recommend a seven pass (DoD standard) cleaning of the hard drive with a software that will be able to write '0's to it. GWSCAN comes to mind or the hard drive tool available from Western Digital's website. Please keep in mind that hard drive manufacturers may have their own software for this measure.

 

I would not worry about the person receiving the computers. The OS serial number should still be attached to the computer and the drivers for the hardware should be available on the manufacturer's web site, therefore negating the need to maintain the original software on the hard drive.

 

You can never be too careful about your data.

[lex_jenkins]

How paranoid are you? I always trash the hard drives before I give away an old PC. Literally. I drill holes in 'em and toss 'em in the

dumpster. Hard drives don't cost that much to replace.

 

Short of that there are utilities designed to wipe sensitive data. But you need to know where that data is stored. I've yet to find a utility "smart" enough to locate and wipe all potentially sensitive data, such as stored passwords, account numbers, etc.

[kelly_flanigan1]

In buying old Ibm servers off of ebay many still have had NT4 or win2000 on them; sometimes with files; training PDF's; bank logos on the desktop; some with restore CD's hidden in the cases with company policy PDFs on computer security too. In used HP boxes I have seen data hidden in the logical drive thats hidden from normal view when the box is running its XP Pro; but the hidden partion and its data show up when the HDA is placed on another computer as a slave; compete with a directory place the IT guy stored passwords and lan log ins for the chaps computer. This was from a computer that was "wiped clean" by a bank's guru. <BR><BR>If your PC has some scrip kitty intrusions in can have hidden stuff like an FTP site running in the recycle bin that is hidden from view from mortals. Lots of stuff on a pc is hard to remove all traces of and still leave the OS clean as a whisle; its like removing dog manure from deep tread clod hoppers; some crap clings in the cracks.<BR><BR>Drilling several holes thru the HDA and pooring XYZ into the hda's is what we did for military HDA's we scrapped at a disc driver maker I worked for; then we heated them up in an oven as a good measure. <BR><BR>

[jpictures]

Writting zeros to a hard drive removes absolutely everything, including partition table information. What the software does, it turns every bit on the hard drive to a zero and even if it was zero previously it still writes to it. Do it seven times over and no information will be recoverable by anyone save from people that have highly sensitive hard drive platter readers, say like a government agency. I think I mentioned this in my previous post.

 

I am surprized to find out that the military is phisically damaging their hard drives in measures that do not guarantee complete data removal, such as drilling holes and heating in an oven. It is known that magnetic residue is still present in the metal after severe heating. Pretty much the only way you get rid of magnetic data is by melting. That is why the recent wave of computers does not have magnetic hard drives but more like memory cards, which after being erased are pretty much easy to crush and therefore remove all possibility of recovering any information.

[kevin_schoedel]

James Philopena, can you cite any instance of recovering multiply-overwritten information from a contemporary disk?

[lex_jenkins]

Kevin, I've done this with older Macs using then-contemporary software. In one case the previous owner of a surplussed IIfx was a government agency. I was curious to see what they'd left behind. It was just a bunch of local lake and dam project plans, nothing sensitive.

 

Even curiouser, I decided to see how many standard wipes overwritten with zeros were needed to render the information completely irretrievable using readily available software. If I'm recalling correctly (this was several years ago), it took more than three.

 

Magnetic media is generally more stable than ever nowadays. The downside is that it's relatively more difficult to completely eradicate and relatively easier to retrieve. Or maybe that's a good thing if one's schnauzer, in a fit of pique over the absence of chew toys, overwrites your holiday pix.

 

(BTW, one of the earliest data retrieval programs for personal computers was developed by a company based in Clearwater, Florida. I'll leave the implications to your imagination.)