How do I clean my computer before selling it?

Are you going to sell a laptop and replace it with a more suitable model for your actual requirements? For such a case you need to properly prepare the device. No one would like his personal information to be seen by anyone and be taken into the hands of intruders, so let's talk about cleaning up the gadget. How do I clean my computer before selling it? A detailed algorithm for this work will be discussed in this article.

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Cleaning the laptop

Before you get rid of any device that stores your personal information, you need to take care of completely destroying it. Only with full confidence in the lack of personal information on the gadget, the device can be sold or discarded.

Important! This is very important, since practically on all drives data that are deleted in the usual way, it is easy to restore. Not always the usual removal can completely get rid of the information.

Disks and their functionality

Notebooks and computers with internal drives will need to be erased only if they are equipped with mechanical or hybrid hard drives.

Data from solid-state media are destroyed irrevocably, the fault of which is the TRIM command. It is thanks to her that SSDs work so fast. Let us repeat that we are talking about hybrid and mechanical discs.

Operating systems and their capabilities

Different operating systems have their own nuances:

• In Windows 8 and 8.1, there is a function "Delete all data and reinstall Windows".The option "Completely clean the disk" will ensure the complete destruction of information without the possibility of its subsequent recovery.
• For Windows 7, you can use the DBAN utility. It will allow you to overwrite absolutely all the files on the disk with a random data set. This method requires the subsequent installation of the operating system.

Important! Multiple repetition of this type of procedure is not required.

• Mac, equipped with mechanical disks, must be downloaded in recovery mode. For a complete uninstall, you need to use Disk Utility, and then reinstall the operating system.

If you are worried about how to clean your laptop before selling, without resorting to reinstalling the operating system - read on.

Deleting protected files and folders

Most likely, many computer users at least once in their life faced problems when deleting any files or folders. You pressed the Delete button or selected the "Delete" command in the context menu, but the process of deleting files is not going to be performed, but an error message appears.

Such files usually have a "lock" near the shortcut. These files can be created by viruses or have a different origin, but you need to get rid of them - this is unconditional.

What should I do in case of a situation?

Check your device for threats and clean up antivirus, if any. Let's proceed to the protected files and folders. Let's turn to the utility - Unlocker. This program is completely free of charge and is in the public access on the Internet, and with its task it does an excellent job:

1. Install the program itself.
2. Click on the "undesirable" file or folder PCM( right-click) and select the line "Unlocker".
3. In the resulting context menu select "Delete".
4. Click "OK" and wait for the end of the process.

Removing passwords in different browsers

Auto-save in browsers is very convenient, but not in the case of transferring your device to another person. It's about removing passwords in different browsers.

Uninstall in Google Chrome:

1. Open "Settings", go to "Advanced settings", located at the very bottom of the page.
2. Go to the "Passwords and forms" section, in the "Prompt to save passwords for sites" section, click on "Configure".
3. In the window that appears, delete the passwords.

Uninstalling in Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the "Open menu" button. Next, go to "Settings".
2. In the opened window we find the tab "Protection".
3. Go to the "Passwords" section, we find there "Saved passwords", here we also make the removal of passwords.
4. All saved passwords can be deleted by pressing one button: "Delete all".

Deleting in Yandex. Browser

To delete data from this browser, there is an instruction to switch between tabs:

1. "Yandex browser settings".
2. "Settings".
3. "Show advanced settings".
4. "Passwords and autocomplete".
5. "Password Management".The autocomplete data and all other information entered here are deleted directly.

Deleting in Opera

In order:

1. "Configuring and managing Opera".
2. "Setting".
3. "Security".
4. "Passwords".
5. "Managing saved passwords".
6. "Saved passwords".You can delete passwords here.

Uninstalling in Internet Explorer

To delete data here, you need to perform the following transition actions:

1. "Service".
2. "Browser properties".
3. "Content."
4. "Autofill" - "Options".
5. "Autocomplete options" - "Delete the autocomplete log. ..".
6. In the "Delete browsing history" window, check the "Passwords" box and click the "Delete" button.

Important! To delete saved passwords, you can use third-party applications to clean your computer before selling, the same CCleaner can handle this task perfectly.

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Paranoia?

Even after all the done actions, you do not leave the feeling that it was not possible to completely clean the computer before selling it? If you are afraid that your confidential data will be extracted from the most eerie depths, we suggest that you do the following:

1. Create a new administrative account.
2. View all other accounts on the device.
3. Remove all unnecessary( in terms of sales) programs and files / directories.
4. Clear "temp'y"( This is full of detailed articles).
5. In an empty space, create a separate partition and encrypt it with TrueCrypt. At the output we have two sections: the encrypted and the partition with the system and the minimum amount of data.
6. On the first section, go through with ccleaner.
7. Delete the encrypted partition and merge the free space with the first one.

All the information above is intended to save you the fear of losing personal data or accessing it for others when selling your device. You can no longer worry about the safety of your data after they are deleted. A potential buyer will not be able to catch anything personal, making every effort to do so. Again, the surest way is to completely clean the device, implying a subsequent reinstallation of the OS.Follow all the advice, and do not miss. Profitable sales to you!