Safe to sell computer with hard drive intact ?

[jason str]

I have an old Dell 2400 sitting useless i would like to sell for cheap.
Is there something safe to clean any leftover data on the hard drive after i reinstall XP ?
May as well let somebody get some use out of this thing if possible.

[Scubar]

just download something like DBAN and do a secure wipe on it incase of any left over data. how many passes depends on how much you care about what was on it,

[Kingcarcas]

^ That but even if you didn't if you sell it to an average joe i doubt anything would happen, we're taught to be paranoid but most of the time you won't get burned.

I was taking some PCs to a donation place once and this homeless guy asked me for a HDD, I said i had to give him the whole computer i didn't install Windows just to rip out the drive so i gave um the whole thing. Only later did it dawn on me why that weasel was only interested in the drive I bought it off ebay so whatever happens happens......

How good would a low brow type of person be at recovering data anyway? Hell i know nothing about it and i've been around computers for about a decade.........

[AMDforME]

"most of the time you won't get burned"

It only takes once to learn a valuable lesson. It's basically cost free to wipe the drive. If there is no personal information or anything else of value on the drive then it might not matter but you'd be surprised what perps can find and use for personal gain.

[jason str]

I know this system was used to do some online shopping and i don't need any problems with credit card fraud.

This was used at my parents house for years and has been trusty but its time to go.

[kromosto]

i never ever sell my hdds.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

[Kingcarcas]

I know this system was used to do some online shopping and i don't need any problems with credit card fraud.

This was used at my parents house for years and has been trusty but its time to go.

And remember not to save the info on the companies' sites, they could end up getting hacked.

^ Only donated my SSD since it was too small, but never really entered anything on that one.

[chinaguy]

I normally whack! the hard drive with a hammer to damage the metal surface of the disc to prevent data recovery unless its the NSA doing the snooping.

At least I would use a programme like WipeDrive or Acronis utility to give the drive a whitewash.

Failing that just delete all the patricians in Disk Manager and then format the drive, set up the drive to work again on the PC. Then I connect up my webcam and set to recorded out of the window or TV image to fill up the hard drive with data to overwrite the hard drive. Delete the large files and repeat a couple of times just to over write the drive a couple of times.

Job done

[Zipelgas]

I thought if its an SSD secure erase is a pretty safe bet to make the data non recoverable ?

[jason str]

I ran that DBAN through and it said it ran 3 passes so i will hope for the best.

No i don't save any information on any shopping websights though most do give the option to make things easier.

Now to find a buyer for this thing to help pay for my next upgrade.

[yojimbo197]

Now to find a buyer for this thing to help pay for my next upgrade.

The most important thing is to know what the market is like for your computer or comparable computers. Far too often I see people try to sell old computer for ridiculous prices because they remember what they paid for it when it was new, and don't bother to see what price the same computer is fetching now. On the other hand, there are some real bottom feeders out there who will try to lowball you, so don't buy into their BS.

[jason str]

The most important thing is to know what the market is like for your computer or comparable computers. Far too often I see people try to sell old computer for ridiculous prices because they remember what they paid for it when it was new, and don't bother to see what price the same computer is fetching now. On the other hand, there are some real bottom feeders out there who will try to lowball you, so don't buy into their BS.

I have it on Craigslist for $50 or best offer, i think i paid more than that for the memory upgrade i did years ago when prices were sky high.

Pent 4 2.2 GHz, 1 gig memory, ATI video card & DVD player, pretty much maxed out for what it is.
The mainboard will only run a 400 FSB so its limited, 1 gig memory max too.
The system is complete with monitor, keyboard & mouse and i have a printer i was going to throw in on the deal, seems like a reasonable price.

I was going to use the money to upgrade from my old Zotac 8800GT SSC to a GTX650 or 650ti on my old 775 board.

I want a new system but just no $$$ right now, Drooling over the new I7-4820k chip.