Deleting files on old computer

I just bought a new computer and want to give my old one to a needy high
school student. I have a lot of financial data on my hard drive that I
don't want anyone to have access to. I have uninstalled my programs and
deleted my files but I'm still worred about not doing more. What is the
best way to totaly delete my hard drive of this data. I'll be giving
all of my Windows 98se cd's that came with my computer to this student
so that they can install programs to get them up and running.

Thanks


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charlatan
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"charlatan" wrote in message
...

I just bought a new computer and want to give my old one to a needy high
school student. I have a lot of financial data on my hard drive that I
don't want anyone to have access to. I have uninstalled my programs and
deleted my files but I'm still worred about not doing more. What is the
best way to totaly delete my hard drive of this data.

Method 1 = use FDISK to remove all partitions, then FDISK and
FORMAT to create new logical drives from scratch. This requires
reinstalling the Win98 operating system and all applications.

This does not overwrite much of the hard drive space so that clever
"unformat" software can recover deleted files even after this
process. So Method 2 = use 3d-party software to remove all
traces of old files by overwriting them (or overwriting all unused
drive space) with null bytes.

Most people find Method 1 sufficient.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

charlatan wrote:
I just bought a new computer and want to give my old one to a needy high
school student. I have a lot of financial data on my hard drive that I
don't want anyone to have access to. I have uninstalled my programs and
deleted my files but I'm still worred about not doing more.

************************************************** *****************
What is the best way to totaly delete my hard drive of this data.
************************************************** *****************

No 101% in electronic manipulations, you can try mechanical, chemical
means to be sure ( belt AND suspenders style) if you are paranoical enough.

I'll be giving all of my Windows 98se cd's that came with my computer to this student
so that they can install programs to get them up and running.

BTW, have you considered different hard drive?

Thanks



Welcome

Stanislaw
Slack user from Ulladulla.

This site has the sorts of utilities available for achieving what you
describe. I haven't tried any of these - select a suitable one with
caution, or use the terms you see there to search for yourself.
http://www.thefreecountry.com/securi...redelete.shtml
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"charlatan" wrote in message
...

I just bought a new computer and want to give my old one to a needy high
school student. I have a lot of financial data on my hard drive that I
don't want anyone to have access to. I have uninstalled my programs and
deleted my files but I'm still worred about not doing more. What is the
best way to totaly delete my hard drive of this data. I'll be giving
all of my Windows 98se cd's that came with my computer to this student
so that they can install programs to get them up and running.

Thanks

"charlatan" wrote in message
...

I just bought a new computer and want to give my old one to a needy high
school student. I have a lot of financial data on my hard drive that I
don't want anyone to have access to. I have uninstalled my programs and
deleted my files but I'm still worred about not doing more. What is the
best way to totaly delete my hard drive of this data. I'll be giving
all of my Windows 98se cd's that came with my computer to this student
so that they can install programs to get them up and running.

Thanks



backup any drivers you need...then
format the drive...
& perform a fresh install of win98

Philo,
Could you please tell me how to format my drive. Also, how do I know
what drives to back up?

Thanks


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charlatan
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"charlatan" wrote in message
...

Philo,
Could you please tell me how to format my drive. Also, how do I know
what drives to back up?

Thanks




have a look he

http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/

Philo said *drivers* not drives. You may not need to do this--it depends on
what type of PC you have. Tell us the brand and we may be able to advise
further.

Formatting, by itself, is not sufficient as the data can still be retrieved
with readily available software. There are directions for formatting the
drive and installing the system he
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html

Once the system and drivers are installed, defrag the drive. Once that has
been done, get Eraser: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ Freeware that overwrites
the "blank" data on a hard drive.

--
Regards


Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo



"charlatan" wrote in message
...

Philo,
Could you please tell me how to format my drive. Also, how do I know
what drives to back up?

Thanks


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charlatan
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View this thread:
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Thanks to all...


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charlatan
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Hello,

I suppose you using data recovery tools to see if you will be able to
restore data. The most powerful are imho Active@ Undelete and
Uneraser(DOS) so that will give your maximum chances to restore. I've
used them before and can say their recovery methods are really awesome.

http://www.active-undelete.com/

http://www.uneraser.com/