If you plan to sell your computer, it is important to take some basic steps to ensure that you aren 't giving away something more than just electronic devices and gadgets. Today, people spend a lot of time working with their computers, perform all kinds of actions, using different software, and sharing, capture and storage of personal information.
Just because you go through and delete some personal files does not mean that you have removed all traces of your computer information. There are newspapers, cookies and program approvals that must be addressed and removed, and a host of other monitoring information that could lead a computer technology savvy pirate or discover much more about you than you would like.
This is why you should follow these five key steps to ensure that your computer is free and clear of all traces of your sensitive and personal information before selling or disposing of it.
Make a backup of all your files
The first safety step you should take when you plan to sell your home computer is make a backup of all your files currently exist on it. It does not matter if you have transferred the files to a new computer; make a completely different and independent backup that is currently on the computer that you intend to sell.
Depending on the number of files you have, you may need large storage such as an external hard drive with 100 - 500 GB of space, or even 1 terabyte. You can find a backup hard drive to go from $ 50 and up. If you only have a few personal files, you can use a flash drive or a DVD.
Whatever method you use to back up your files, be sure to include photos, personal documents, videos, and even music. Unfortunately, many people have lost a lot of precious photos and music files because they forgot to include them in their backup process before selling their computer.
deauthorize All files or programs
Before starting to remove programs, uninstall, or replace your hard disk, make sure you allow for-all of the programs some form of authorization in order to use them. Many software programs now allow you to use the program on some computers and they follow this information through the use of licenses. When you de-authorize a program, it may be difficult or impossible, you can use it on your new computer.
Even if you do not plan to use the program on another computer, it is always a good idea to remove the permission because it stores personal information that could be captured by someone who know what they do if they buy your used computer.
authorizing-software takes very little time to do and can potentially save you a lot of time and effort in the future.
Wipe
playerThere are a number of programs that allow you to either delete sensitive files or the entire hard disk with 1 and 0 (binary code). While you can certainly choose to simply write about the specific files, you may miss some that contain sensitive information, so it is often recommended that you wipe the entire disk.
However, it is also important to note that if you wipe the entire hard drive, you will wipe all Windows license, so make sure you have the physical disks and licenses to reinstall your operating system, otherwise you will need to purchase a new license, which would reduce the amount of money you would earn from selling your used computer.
most of the programs that are available offer a variety of wiping methods, and the number of times they replace the hard drive. The more times that the program writes to the drive, plus less chance someone should get all the files or information that was once on it.
While you should not go to extremes to protect your data, such as taking several days to wipe the disk 30 or more times, it is a good idea to run the program at least a few wipe times to be sure that everything is gone.
for Windows computers, click here to find the best disk wiping programs.
for MAC, click here to learn how you can erase the hard drive of your Mac.
Install the Old Service System
Insert the startup disk and follow the instructions on the screen. Installing an operating system also will take a good amount of time and depending on the computer, add-ons, such as a more powerful graphics card or sound devices, you may need to install these drivers as well.
you can decide how sophisticated you want to be with the installation, but since you are going to sell the computer, simply install the base or "recommended" settings.
When you sell the computer, including the operating system start with discs that the new owner can configure the system the way he or she prefers.
Clean the computer
last step is to clean your computer. Physically cleaned using a dust cleaning spray, a safe cleaner for the screen, and work carefully to remove any dirt keys. Although this will do nothing to keep your information secure, it can help you get a few dollars more for it because it will be prettier.
When you sell your computer, you do not want to sell any of your personal information as well. After the safety measures listed here will help ensure that you have removed your information from the old system.
Some people claim that these measures are not enough and that the best measure to be sure that your information is secure is to remove the hard drive, replace it with a new and either store or physically destroy the former. Whatever the stage of your choice, in all cases, but few, you will protect your personal information from hackers.
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