What to do before giving away an old computer.
Another
data scandal in the UK once again shows why it's important to clean
up your computer before giving it to someone else.
There's a number of steps to making sure your old computer isn't going
to tell tales on you and it's worth doing them with every system that
leaves your home or office.
Back up your old data
Make sure anything important has been copied before deleting the old
comptuer. Once wiped, it will be impossible to recover that data.
Create a new user profile
Next create
a new Administrator profile.Once you've done this, restart the computer
and log back on as the new Administrator user.
Uninstall software
Follow our instructions on our IT
Queries website on uninstalling programs. When asked if you want
to delete any data, choose "yes".
Delete the other profiles
Once in the new profile, go to C:\Documents and Settings (Windows
XP) or C:\Users (Windows Vista) and delete all the other profiles.
Clean up your computer
We have a comprehensive clean
up routine you should follow next. This will get rid of anything
unnecessary.
Empty your recycle bin
Right click and choose empty. This will move everything you've
deleted out of the bin. Keep in mind this does not fully delete the
data.
Permantely delete your data
Finally you need to download and run a shredder program. We've posted
the instructions
on doing this previously.
If this is too hard. We offer a data
wiping service. You will find most good computer techs can do this
for you.
