How to Clean Out a Computer Before Disposing of it

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How to Clean Out a Computer Before Disposing of it – This is a place for the community to provide tips and advice on How to Clean Out a Computer Before Disposing of it. This topic was created by dario pagella and the tips are provided by the community. The tips you add here can be your own or referred from another site. The best tips are then ranked at the top when up-voted by members of the community.

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Tip 1
Definitely deleted: How to guarantee your data is truly gone before recycling old PCs and drives More
Published: 9 years, 6 month(s) ago by Cynthia Weiss | permalink
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Hitting 'delete' is just the beginning. Depending on the type of storage and the sensitivity of the information, there are other things you need to do to make sure your deleted files are gone for good.

For further reading: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2155347/how-to-guarantee-your-data-is-truly-deleted-before-recycling-old-pcs-and-drives.html ^[1]

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Tip 2
How to wipe your computer clean before recycling it More
Published: 9 years, 6 month(s) ago by Anony | permalink
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However, there are steps you can take to dramatically and, in one case at least, completely eliminate the risk of someone else accessing your data after your co

For further reading: http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/computers/stories/how-to-wipe-your-computer-clean-before-recycling-it ^[2]

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Tip 3
How Do I Securely Wipe a Computer? More
Published: 9 years, 6 month(s) ago by Deb Deaton | permalink
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Dear Lifehacker, I have a few old computers I'm planning to donate to charity, but I want to make sure that all of my data is off of them before I give them away. I'd rather not pull out the hard drives since they're so old. How can I make sure they're clean before giving them away? Signed, Partially Paranoid You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at , or better yet, follow him on or .
Tags: Ask Lifehacker, Security, Data, Backup, erase, Utilities, Charity, Donations, Top, Lifehacker

For further reading: http://lifehacker.com/5835369/how-do-i-securely-wipe-a-computer-before-donating-it-to-charity ^[3]

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Tip 4
Don't Sell or Trash Your Hard Drive Before Reading This! More
Published: 9 years, 6 month(s) ago by Paul Glover | permalink
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Deleting data or even formatting a hard drive before selling or disposing of it is not good enough. The data can still be recovered. This article describes the steps you need to take before getting rid of a hard drive.

For further reading: http://netsecurity.about.com/od/quicktips/qt/erase_drive.htm ^[4]

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Tip 5
How To Completely Erase a Hard Drive More
Published: 9 years, 6 month(s) ago by Herve Jean - Baptiste | permalink
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Easy instructions to completely erase a hard drive. To truly erase hard drive data forever, you may have to do more than format the drive or delete files.

For further reading: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/erase-hard-drive.htm ^[5]

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Tip 6
Prepping Your Computer for Disposal More
Published: 9 years, 6 month(s) ago by Joost Kamphoff | permalink
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A guide to properly disposing of your old computer - from removing your personal information to options for recycling, donating or trading it in.
Tags: computer recycling, disposal, donation, trade up, technology, women, advice, buyers guides, reviews, tips, how-to, consumer products, recommendations

For further reading: http://www.techlicious.com/tip/prepping-your-computer-for-disposal/ ^[6]

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About This Topic

Category: Fun | 9 years, 6 month(s) ago

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Contributors

Joost Kamphoff, Cynthia Weiss, Herve Jean - Baptiste, Paul Glover, Deb Deaton, Anony

References & Citations

1. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2155347/how-to-guarantee-your-data-is-truly-deleted-before-recycling-old-pcs-and-drives.html

2. http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/computers/stories/how-to-wipe-your-computer-clean-before-recycling-it

3. http://lifehacker.com/5835369/how-do-i-securely-wipe-a-computer-before-donating-it-to-charity

4. http://netsecurity.about.com/od/quicktips/qt/erase_drive.htm

5. http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/erase-hard-drive.htm

6. http://www.techlicious.com/tip/prepping-your-computer-for-disposal/