Cleansing an old PC for re-sale

Caitlin Black · Apr 10, 2015

Okay, so I bought a new desktop a month ago, and it's a fantastic machine (after I sorted out a minor issue), so I find myself getting closer and closer to wanting to sell my old desktop (a piece of crap, if you ask me) the more time goes on. Like, if this new PC is performing well after 2 months, I'll be confident enough to get rid of the old one, right?

Anyway, I wasn't sure about the best way to "sanitise" the old desktop, thus making sure (to the best of my ability) that none of my personal files are found by the new owner. Now, I know enough to know that some tech people can restore deleted files pretty easily.

So... What's best? Just delete files, bookmarks, cookies, etc. and risk it? Format the hard drive and reinstall Windows? Something more complicated (please no!)?

Because yeah. At one point or another, I've entered in most of my personal details into that computer - credit card details, passwords to various sites, citizen details, etc. plus all my writing. And I really don't like the idea of a stranger stumbling across some of that stuff.

So, what would I need to do to have peace of mind? I've considered just ripping the hard drive out and selling it for slightly less (with a note that the new owner will need to provide their own hard drive), but ultimately, that's kind of an extreme solution.

M R Mortimer · Apr 10, 2015

Short of shredding the old hard disk and replacing it, there is no 100% reliable way of being sure. However, the majority of people will not have the resources for a really extreme data recovery.

Best way is to thoroughly erase/format, overwrite with random data, erase again. Do this three or four times and 99% of people will be unable to retrieve it. There are software packages out there that can automate the process. That other 1% will be spending thousands of dollars to salvage the data.

Even after that rewriting, it is possible to open the drive in a clean room environment, shift the heads a few microns to one side, then read the old data which has "spilled" to the side of the data track. But that is when it gets uber expensive to recover the data, and nobody is going to spend that kind of money and effort on your credit card details!

Caitlin Black · Apr 10, 2015

Hrm. Okay, thanks.

KokkieH · Apr 14, 2015

Something that works well is CCleaner. You can set it to overwrite deleted data several times and it overwrites and wipes free space on your hard drives as well. You can also set it to wipe in-program data, like browser history and saved form data, custom folders, even logs from Windows itself. It's a free program. Just Google it.

King Neptune · Apr 14, 2015

There are programs that erase, and overwrite several times. I can't remember the names of any, but searching should find them. If that doesn't satisfy you, they changeing the hard drive should work, and that would allow you to sell it as having an upgraded hard drive.

BradCarsten · Apr 15, 2015

King Neptune said:
There are programs that erase, and overwrite several times. I can't remember the names of any, but searching should find them. If that doesn't satisfy you, they changeing the hard drive should work, and that would allow you to sell it as having an upgraded hard drive.

Yes, this isn't a bad idea. You can get some second hand ones for good prices on ebay- I bought an external harddrive case for next to nothing and popped my old hard drive into that, and now use it to backup my files and as a "media center" for my tv

JimmyB27 · Apr 15, 2015

I still have my old PC lying about the house because I figure I'd get naff all for it. Turned it into a Linux box for the hell of it.

On topic, there are a few pointers to programs for this purpose here.

stephenf · Apr 15, 2015

I would also take the linux route . You can buy a disc of the latest and best version, linux Mint, off the internet for not much more than the postage. You do need to know how to reboot your computer from a disc , but is's not difficult.
There are a few options when you reboot and one is to delete everything on the machine.

King Neptune · Apr 15, 2015

stephenf said:
I would also take the linux route . You can buy a disc of the latest and best version, linux Mint, off the internet for not much more than the postage. You do need to know how to reboot your computer from a disc , but is's not difficult.
There are a few options when you reboot and one is to delete everything on the machine.

Why waste all that money. You can download and burn the most up to date versions of any of several distros for the costs of a CD or DVD.

Caitlin Black · Apr 15, 2015

Except I don't want to keep the old desktop, whether it has Linux or not.

As for replacing the hard drive... Well, I'm not sure it's cost-effective. Like, for the price I might get for the machine, I'd be eating a fair chunk of the profits by buying a new hard drive.

Eh, what I might do is just rip the hard drive out and sell the rest of the machine. It seems like the easiest and least-annoying option. Because I really can't be bothered formatting and reinstalling Windows several times to wipe the data.

Thanks all.

stephenf · Apr 16, 2015

King Neptune said:
Why waste all that money. You can download and burn the most up to date versions of any of several distros for the costs of a CD or DVD.

I have fiddled around with linux for years . I have found downloading stuff off the internet is a risky option . To buy a disc of Linux mint, in the UK, costs about £1.50 . Linux is not something that is updated that often and in fact most of the the versions you can find on the internet are outdated and obsolete and even worse some don't actuly work .

King Neptune · Apr 16, 2015

stephenf said:
I have fiddled around with linux for years . I have found downloading stuff off the internet is a risky option . To buy a disc of Linux mint, in the UK, costs about £1.50 . Linux is not something that is updated that often and in fact most of the the versions you can find on the internet are outdated and obsolete and even worse some don't actuly work .

I have downloaded a few versions that didn't work, but that has been a small matter in my experience. But downloading is always risky, but all life is a gamble.

stephenf · Apr 16, 2015

King Neptune said:
I have downloaded a few versions that didn't work, but that has been a small matter in my experience. But downloading is always risky, but all life is a gamble.

Taking a calculated risk is fine , if you are the one taking it , especially if you are knowledgeable about the possible consequence and have the skill to unravel the damage. But to offer it as advise to a stranger is fuel to all the people that like to spend their time rubbishing this community.

BradCarsten · Apr 16, 2015

stephenf said:
I have fiddled around with linux for years . I have found downloading stuff off the internet is a risky option . To buy a disc of Linux mint, in the UK, costs about £1.50 . Linux is not something that is updated that often and in fact most of the the versions you can find on the internet are outdated and obsolete and even worse some don't actuly work .

Depends which distro you're using. If you use the official channels, and stick to a larger distro - like one of the bigger ubuntu based releases, they will constantly offer updates and a new version every 6 months. Case in point- I've currently got 220 updates waiting for me and that's after only a month. The disk is nice though if you don't have the bandwidth to download it yourself.

stephenf · Apr 16, 2015

ave said:
Depends which distro you're using. If you use the official channels, and stick to a larger distro -

Hi
As the original enquire has fizzled out , I don't see the Linux diversion is a bad thing . I don't have any argument with what you say , and in fact there were problems with Linux on a CD . But now they are supplied on a DVD , live loading is the best option . Also , the problem with Linux is the constant forking that has left the project in a mess . I't is not easy to verify the quality of any download , until you have down loaded it . In England there are a number of suppliers that will send you a disc , that is uncorrupted and working for not much more than the cost of the disc + postage. Most versions of linux are unstable and unsupported. Currently the best , out of the box version is Mint Rafaela . So my advise for anybody interested running Linux is buy a disc of Mint rafaela from a established suppler.

SianaBlackwood · Apr 16, 2015

Mint Rafaela is being released some time in May. Did you mean Rebecca, Mint's official latest release?

stephenf · Apr 16, 2015

No , I did mean Rafaela.

BradCarsten · Apr 16, 2015

stephenf said:
Depends which distro you're using. If you use the official channels, and stick to a larger distro -

Hi
As the original enquire has fizzled out , I don't see the Linux diversion is a bad thing . I don't have any argument with what you say , and in fact there were problems with Linux on a CD . But now they are supplied on a DVD , live loading is the best option . Also , the problem with Linux is the constant forking that has left the project in a mess . I't is not easy to verify the quality of any download , until you have down loaded it . In England there are a number of suppliers that will send you a disc , that is uncorrupted and working for not much more than the cost of the disc + postage. Most versions of linux are unstable and unsupported. Currently the best , out of the box version is Mint Rafaela . So my advise for anybody interested running Linux is buy a disc of Mint rafaela from a established suppler.

As another aside, have you ever tried Deepin linux? I recently moved from Ubuntu to Deepin, and I'm so impressed, I must say. It's as modern as unity, but easy to use and well thought out.

stephenf · Apr 16, 2015

ave said:
As another aside, have you ever tried Deepin linux? I recently moved from Ubuntu to Deepin, and I'm so impressed, I must say. It's as modern as unity, but easy to use and well thought out.

I have tried it , it is not bad looking , but I found it to be a bit slow and prone to freezing . The mint comes complete with libra office and a video player that actuly plays videos , that was missing on the Deepin I tried . However , Deepin is Chinese , and I'm sure the Chinese would love to have a real alternative to windows , so it is another Linux fork that will no doubt be developed .

Reziac · Apr 16, 2015

Cliff Face said:
Except I don't want to keep the old desktop, whether it has Linux or not.

As for replacing the hard drive... Well, I'm not sure it's cost-effective. Like, for the price I might get for the machine, I'd be eating a fair chunk of the profits by buying a new hard drive.

Pretty much.

What is the old machine?

A good metric for "what are used computers worth?" is that each component is worth about half of current wholesale (for that part, not for current parts), so long as it's no more than one generation old, and was reasonably high-end in its day (cheap used components tend to have no value). Anything older is "Please haul it away" (you can buy a whole pallet-full of such machines for under $100 per pallet, as they're really only worth what you can get for gold salvage and scrap metal -- $5-$10 apiece).

Consider too that one can buy a new low-end machine for about $300, which makes buying an older machine unattractive to most folks, and most looking in the low-end market are likely to be discouraged entirely by "no hard drive" and "no Windows".

You might be as well off to donate it somewhere and take the tax writeoff (for which you can probably claim its retail value) if your tax code has such a thing.

As to risks from the next owner -- bad guys don't go around buying one-off used machines from random people (nor from your local Goodwill). Data breeches at the hard disk level tend to come from either stolen corporate laptops, or less often, via bulk HD salvage (which mostly means corporate desktops, which commonly get replaced in blocks of thousands of machines).

Using FDISK to delete existing partitions kills off data beyond the capability of casual recovery efforts. Use an automated Wipe tool to overwrite the drive and you're good for anything short of pro data recovery. And no one spends $800 to $1500 per drive to recover data on an if-and-maybe chance that you left a credit card number in plaintext, and a hope that your credit limit is more than they just spent recovering it.

PS. You don't reinstall Windows several times; you run a Wipe tool from a bootable CD, go away while it has its way with the drive, then reinstall Windows once.

King Neptune · Apr 16, 2015

Reziac has good points. Used PC's aren't worth much. An alternative is to make a donation to some organization that can do something useful with it.

Eraser will clean the HD, and the program is free. I used it in the past, but I haven't had occasion to use it recently.
"Eraser is an advanced security tool for Windows that allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns."
http://download.cnet.com/3028-2092_...31814_5895711897_37799450&dlc=n&part=fivemill

Reziac · Apr 16, 2015

stephenf said:
I't is not easy to verify the quality of any download , until you have down loaded it .

If you mean you're having trouble with the download becoming corrupted (which can happen if your connection is iffy or 'noisy') or those big downloads keep getting interrupted -- I'd strongly recommend using a download manager that supports resuming and is a little smarter about not trying to keep corrupted data. I've been using Getright since it was new (1997), it's one of my must-have utilities (and the developer is a really nice guy, too). Note: if you're using Win98/95, use Getright v5. If you're using Win3.1x, may the gods have mercy on your soul.

stephenf · Apr 17, 2015

Reziac said:
If you mean you're having trouble with the download becoming corrupted

Thanks for that , just to rewind a bit. There are loads of machines out there that have ground to a halt , because of windows . It is reasonable to buy a new machine , that will be an improvement on your old one . But the electronic components on your old one will, in all probability, be as good as when you bought it .
So my suggestion is not to scrap it but to replace windows with Linux .
Despite the fact Linux is the worst operating system available , it can transform an old computer and bring it back to life. For basic functions like word processing, watching you tube are looking at AW, it works well . There are a number of issues with Linux and choosing the right version , downloading and installing is not problem free But if you buy the disc of the version I have suggested, watch a YouTube instruction, reboot a computer from a disc . You will eliminate , almost , all the possible problems .

BradCarsten · Apr 17, 2015

King Neptune said:
Reziac has good points. Used PC's aren't worth much. An alternative is to make a donation to some organization that can do something useful with it.

This reminds me, another option is to strip the PC and sell the parts separately. I just bought some old DDR2 ram on Ebay and paid almost as much as I would for new DDR3 ram. I don't know what sort of demand there is for other components, but it may be worth looking into.

Caitlin Black · Apr 17, 2015

Yep, I'm more inclined to strip it for parts. It's not that old of a computer - I got it brand-new (built by mum's friend) in late 2013, so it's really only just slightly over a year old. But it was such a piece of crap to use... Like, I cheaped out on components and got mid-level stuff, it was absurdly noisy, and had some other problems.

However, it's mid-level components from a little over a year ago, so it's got to be worth *something*. I'm thinking I might chuck the old hard drive into the new machine, to increase space, possibly rip out the Blu-Ray drive to use as a second optical drive for the new desktop, and then sell the rest of the parts to whoever will have them...

Cleansing an old PC for re-sale

Caitlin Black

Wild one

M R Mortimer

SF Author

Caitlin Black

Wild one

KokkieH

Making this up as I go along

King Neptune

BradCarsten

practical experience, FTW

JimmyB27

Hoopy frood

stephenf

King Neptune

Caitlin Black

Wild one

stephenf

King Neptune

stephenf

BradCarsten

practical experience, FTW

stephenf

SianaBlackwood

stephenf

BradCarsten

practical experience, FTW

stephenf

Reziac

Resident Alien

King Neptune

Reziac

Resident Alien

stephenf

BradCarsten

practical experience, FTW

Caitlin Black

Wild one