Wiping a computer to gift it

[vamp]

There might be a different way to do this, but I would do a hard drive restoration. That would wipe any trace of your porn by resetting your hard drive to the way it was when you first bought it, but none of the programs u would want to keep would be left on there. Is reinstalling the programs an option?

 

[AdmiraalW238]

ok, im giving my mom my old dell laptop, ive switched to Mac only, the thing is i had all my porn and other files on it. My question is :

After i go through and manually delete what i what to delete and tranfser to my mac what i want to keep, What is the best way to wipe the computer so no traces of the porn can come back?

(I want to keeps all the current programs - mom will need word processos, internet, basic needs)

thanks

If you have the original CD/DVDs that came with the system you should just do a complete re-image of the PC and anything that is on the HDD will be wiped.

 

[vamp]

Every computer should come with one or two discs that, when run, erases the hard drive and returns it to the way it was when it left the factory. That's what I'm talking about. If you don't have discs like that, then you could use the system restore program that comes installed on windows. You could use it to roll the computer back to its earliest restore point. However, if you do it like that, I can't guarantee that all traces will be erased. Programs and files shouldn't be affected by doing this.

As for moving porn, the best way to do it is by using that flash drive of yours. However, I would recommend buying a portable hard drive. That's what I keep all of my porn on. You can buy one that can hold 60 GB for around $100-$150. If you can't find your flash drive and you don't have the funds to buy the hard drive, it would be hard t move all of it. You could e-mail your pics to yourself and redownload them on to the computer your planning to use, but doing this would be time consuming, depending on how much porn you have.

 

[ComNavFdgPk]

...However, I would recommend buying a portable hard drive. That's what I keep all of my porn on. You can buy one that can hold 60 GB for around $100-$150.

Jeez, it really sounds like you've been sucked into somebody's marketing scheme. I have three external hard drives (1 LaCie T Tb and 2 Western Digital 500 Gb). I just purchased the 1 TB from Buy.com for $146. Tax and shipping included. The two 500 GB drives were less than $125 each.

 

[vamp]

Jeez, it really sounds like you've been sucked into somebody's marketing scheme. I have three external hard drives (1 LaCie T Tb and 2 Western Digital 500 Gb). I just purchased the 1 TB from Buy.com for $146. Tax and shipping included. The two 500 GB drives were less than $125 each.

Well, the 60 I bought cost $150 and that was around two years ago. The prices may have come down. I haven't had any reason to check on that.

UA, If you have a particular questions to the suggestions I gave, feel free to PM me your specific questions and I'll answer them promptly.

 

[nsguy2]

The only way I know of to completely erase any traces of porn - or any other file for that matter - is a low level format.

All partitions and the MBR is removed as well but I doubt you'll have to go to that extreme unless your mother is very nosey and computer savvy.

There should be a partition on your Dell which contain restoration files to set it as when first purchased. As mentioned, you may need to create a disk to perform this if you don't already have one.

You most likely can download one at the dell website.

As for the jump drive, they're pretty cheap right now and one handy ******* tool when in a pinch.

If nothing else, it can be used for extra memory.

 

[Sk8ter_Boy]

System Restore does not delete any existing files and it can be undone easily, would not suggest that. Just delete your temporary internet files and delete the actual porn after your done just do a search for common picture and video formats .jpg .bmp .avi .wmv .mp4 .divx .mov etc etc. Otherwise I would do like the others said and reinstall with the orignal cd's that came with the computer if you dont have em the manufacturer will usually send them depending on who they are it can range from just paying shipping and handling to $50 in my experience.

To move the files you could try moving them over your network (if you have one) but its a bit late for me to explain file sharing from windows to mac atm. Flash drive would be ur next cheapest bet i saw a 2gb at bestbuy for 10bucks today.

 

[Corny]

The only way I know of to completely erase any traces of porn - or any other file for that matter - is a low level format.

On modern hard drives a true low level format is not possible. If you want to be sure that a file cannot be recognized use a wipe tool that overwrite it multiple times. However .. we are talking about his mother here, she most likely will not start disc forensics as soon as she gets the computer

 

[D_Pipa]

format the hard drive

 

[trinket]

If you want to be sure that a file cannot be recognized use a wipe tool that overwrite it multiple times.

Yeah. I've always liked BCWipe, though there are others. BCWipe will let you wipe actual files with "blank" data the program generates on its own, or wipe the free space on a drive, using different methods.

However .. we are talking about his mother here, she most likely will not start disc forensics as soon as she gets the computer

Yeah, unless she's a superpowered/super agent like the Moms from "The Incredibles", "Untraceable" or "Jumper" or something. It's a mistake to underestimate one's Mom sometimes!

 

[icefan]

Reformat the hard drive. If you're not sure how to do this, you can buy software that does this as easy as inserting the disc and turning the computer on. The even have some that are military grade hard drive wipes. They run around $30 - $50.

 

[nsguy2]

On modern hard drives a true low level format is not possible. If you want to be sure that a file cannot be recognized use a wipe tool that overwrite it multiple times. However .. we are talking about his mother here, she most likely will not start disc forensics as soon as she gets the computer

Thanks for the tip, Corny.

 

[torand]

ok well i deleted all the porn and other stuff (figured i could get it back again) i also set up an account profile just for her, which should help right?

Re-formatting is always your best option, but if you knew where it all was, deleted it, and emptied the Recycling Bin will probably be enough. Creating her a seperate account will only help if said files were in your "My Documents" folder or sub-folder, and you have made the account that had said files on it private (There is an option in the user admin of windows).

As long as the person you are gifting it to is as (or more) computer illiterate as you are, and you can't find any files with a good amount of looking, you are probably good.

 

[BiMike]

I would advise against re-formatting your present HD unless you have genuine Windows back-up disks. I had to install a new HD on my PC due to failure and when I tried to formatt it using the back-up disks, provided with my PC when new ,they failed! The disks depended on the HD being formatted in a particular manner.
Thanks to Nollie (now sadly departed) he provided me with a Windows disk which enabled me to restore my PC to its as new condition. However of course I lost all my personal files and drivers.
I think in this case the removal of all known 'suspect' files and a new user identity should be adequate protection from an embarrassing incident !

 

[Apollo]

Reformat your computer and reinstall the OS on it. The best way to do it.

 

[Jimboy121]

for the PC

and for your mum

http://www.apple.com/uk/mac/



you only get one mum, better get her a Mac!

 

[zingerz]

unless you're gifting it to like some programmer i don't see the need to buy a new HD.. cause really it's not difficult just a long and annoying process to recover what you've formatted, and most people don't know how to do that anyways. but maybe if you're giving it to some children's charity you should replace ur HD... but just an option to maybe save some extra money.