[steffismith]

Hi, I have an older gateway 2000 running windows 98. I'm going to try to sell it, and I've been manually going through every file on the computer trying to delete any personal or identifying information. Is there an easier way to do this? Is there a way to check to make certain it's gone? Thanks!

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G'Day,

Format the system. Reinstall the operating system. Bam, all set to go.

A low-level format is also possible. It will remove absolutely everything, but by running one, you risk frying the hard drive, and then you're in trouble.

PM me if you need more info.

Cheers:)

[Dockboy]

G'Day,

Format the system. Reinstall the operating system. Bam, all set to go.

A low-level format is also possible. It will remove absolutely everything, but by running one, you risk frying the hard drive, and then you're in trouble.

PM me if you need more info.

Cheers:)

[dsenette]

dockboy...once again steps would be great...also..don't suggest the user pm you for more info...why not just keep that info here in t he thread so someone else can gain from it?


the format and reinstall you should be able to get a handle on...if not let us know and we can walk you through those steps

what dockboy means by a low-level format (sometimes called a zero-fill) is to use a program that will write over EVERY piece of data on the drive with zeros.. one GREAT program that does this is DBAN (darek's boot and nuke) it makes a bootable disk that will NUKE the drive for you and with one or two passes will make any residual data on the drive useless...then you would format and reinstall the os on the drive...there by making it safer for reselling the machine

[dsenette]

dockboy...once again steps would be great...also..don't suggest the user pm you for more info...why not just keep that info here in t he thread so someone else can gain from it?


the format and reinstall you should be able to get a handle on...if not let us know and we can walk you through those steps

what dockboy means by a low-level format (sometimes called a zero-fill) is to use a program that will write over EVERY piece of data on the drive with zeros.. one GREAT program that does this is DBAN (darek's boot and nuke) it makes a bootable disk that will NUKE the drive for you and with one or two passes will make any residual data on the drive useless...then you would format and reinstall the os on the drive...there by making it safer for reselling the machine

[Dockboy]

My bad again. I posted late last night, wasn't thinking clearly. I'm making a personal effort to not post unless I'm gonna actually put good content into the post and make it so it is easy for users to read. I'll also try to post when I know I have the time to do so.

Cheers:)