- #How to wipe a laptop clean and empty of everything password
- #How to wipe a laptop clean and empty of everything Pc
When you delete files, the operating system doesn’t erase them, it just removes them from its directory. It’s not quite so easy to erase it completely.
#How to wipe a laptop clean and empty of everything Pc
It’s easy to delete the data on a hard drive in a working PC or in an external USB enclosure. If you really want to delete files, you have to overwrite the data so that it can’t be recovered. However, research drive destruction first, and take all the recommended safety precautions. You could, for example, wrap the drive in a cloth (to prevent any bits flying out) and drive a couple of six-inch nails through the platters. You could, of course, simply destroy the hard drive physically, which is what some government departments prefer. Also, remember that neodymium magnets are dangerous.) (Note: keep strong magnets away from hard drives because they might damage the read/write head and stop the drive from working.
Not even a 3in neodymium magnet costing almost $350 had any effect on the data. Unless you happen to know someone who already has a hard disk degausser, this is probably not an option.ĭespite what you see in the movies, you can’t erase a modern hard drive using powerful magnets. The Intimus 20000 is a good example, and you could buy one for £35,783.27 or possibly less. In theory, you could also use a degaussing machine, which uses very strong magnetic fields to erase all forms of magnetic media – disks and tapes. This has two drive slots, so as well as erasing hard drives and SSDs, it can clone them for backup purposes. One cheaper alternative is StarTech’s USB Hard Drive Duplicator and Eraser Dock (£51.91), which I found by searching Amazon. The best known device, the Drive eRazer Ultra, cost about £/$250 when available. Unfortunately, it’s not economical to buy one for a single drive. This is much the easiest way to erase hard drives, and companies that decommission lots of PCs should think about buying one. If you don’t have a PC, you could buy a standalone hard drive eraser. If you have another laptop, you can mount it in an external hard drive enclosure, then connect it to another PC via a USB port. If you have a desktop tower with a spare drive bay, you can mount the laptop drive inside, by connecting the power and data cables. However, if you want to delete your data and reinstall the hard drive, you will need either another PC or a hard disk eraser. This is unlikely.īecause your laptop won’t boot, you will have to do what an attacker or repairer would do: remove the hard drive from the laptop. Whether or not the buyer replaces the motherboard, they will probably be able to read your hard drive, unless you encrypted it with an unhackable password. And, of course, if you don’t do it, you could be at significant financial risk, depending on the information stored on it. Here are some clear instructions.Selling dead machines for spares or repair is even riskier, and how much would your Acer be worth? I doubt it will fetch enough to make it worth spending the time and (probably) money needed to erase your data.
#How to wipe a laptop clean and empty of everything password
Scroll down to "Settings" and click "View Advanced Settings." Then go into "Manage Saved Passwords," and clear out all of the passwords.įirefox's password storage can be cleared in the Security settings. You will see a "Passwords" tab, where you can view and delete passwords that are saved for each specific website.įor Microsoft Edge, go to the top-right of the browser window and click the three dots. On a Safari browser, go to the top left under Preferences. If you use the same username and password for Chrome at work as you do for your Chrome at home, deleting all your passwords here will also delete them on your home computer. You should only do this if you have a unique login just for your job. This will delete all the passwords from whatever Google account you're using at work. In Chrome, look for the " Manage Saved Passwords" tab in the Chrome settings. If you use a particular browser only for work, or if your browser login is tied to your work ID, you can force the browser to forget all of your passwords.
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