what do I need to do before selling a pc?

Hi, I have an old laptop and was going to sell it as it works fine. Is the HD the only thing needing to be wiped before selling on a PC? If so I was going to just replace the HD with a new one. Where can I dispose of my old HD safely? BTW I have a copy of XP registered in my name,should I sell it on without the OS or can the new owner re-register if I give him my copy of xp? Any info appreciated.

Replacing the HD is a sensible plan in preparation to selling the old machine. Hard Drives are the persistent memory devices. Selling your copy of XP along with the machine is just fine. If the XP operating system came preloaded on the machine, it necessarily is linked to and must accompany the machine. If you purchased a separate Retail copy of XP and loaded it onto the laptop, then you can keep it or allow it to go with the machine. Your choice. But of course, the operating system can only be used on the one machine. Selling with operating system already installed is pretty much the only way to go. Without an operating system an older laptop is hardly worth purchasing, since the new owner would have to purchase a new copy of Windows which would cost nearly as much as buying the machine. Plus, if you are getting a new machine, it will probably already have Vista or Windows 7 already installed, thus you don't need your old copy of XP. Best Regards

Agreed with above, but a few points to add\note, my understanding is you do not own the operating system, the disk\software is owned by M$, what you own is the licence to use that operating system, which is the sticker that should be applied to the case of the installed system, so when you sell the system on, the licence would go with it, because you would probably damage the sticker trying to remove it, thats my understanding anyway, but others may well know better. Now as it's an xp system, it will depend on it's age as to if it came preloaded, and has a restore partition (often hidden), or if it had rescue disks or some other format to reset it, if it came preloaded or similar, replacing the hard drive would remove the operating system, assuming it was preloaded, then you would have a blank system, so replacing the drive, although perfect in many situations, may cause further issues after, so best advice if it has any kind of recovery solution, to restore the system to out of the box state (as though it's brand new) is the best way forward, select destructive restore if asked, it will wipe all your data, then when the new owner gets it they can add the owner details they want, and you will get a new operating system when buying a new system as said, hope this helps.

personally i'd zero the partition/drive already in it, then re-install the operating system and sell it. being an old laptop it's probably not worth the cost of installing a new hard drive and a couple of passes writing random numbers followed by zero's is enough to make any data unrecoverable. of course for max security yes you should replace the hard drive and destroy it.

Agreed with above, but a few points to add\note, my understanding is you do not own the operating system, the disk\software is owned by M$, what you own is the licence to use that operating system, which is the sticker that should be applied to the case of the installed system, so when you sell the system on, the licence would go with it, because you would probably damage the sticker trying to remove it, thats my understanding anyway, but others may well know better.

Actually, Doug had it right. It depends on the type of license. And yes, you do own the disk, but that is just the media the software comes on. It is the license, which you also own, that dictates the terms of use. And you agreed to those terms when you decided to use the software.

If your copy of XP was a full "Retail" license - typically bought at a retail outlet like Best Buy, then you can keep the license and transfer that to your new machine, or you can sell it with this XP machine. But if your copy of XP came with your old computer and is an OEM/System Builder license, then it MUST stay with the computer it was originally installed on.

Understand, in terms of licensing, the motherboard is the considered the computer, not the hard drive.

Is the HD the only thing needing to be wiped before selling on a PC?
If so I was going to just replace the HD with a new one.

Yes, the HD is the only thing that needs to be wiped. This will ensure there is none of your personal information remaining. Alternatively, you can methodically go in and uninstall all your personal programs and delete all your personal data, then run a "free space wipe". CCleaner's Disk Wiper feature allows you to do that. But you need to ensure you don't miss anything - a tedious process. For this reason, a full wipe is recommended, then a reinstall of the OS (or just give the disks and license key with it).

As far as buying a new hard drive, right now, that may not be a good idea. Due to major flooding in Thailand and neighboring countries, prices for hard drives are skyrocketing, almost hourly.

Where can I dispose of my old HD safely?

Depends on what you mean by "safely". If you mean in terms of security, after a "wipe" you can dispose of it anywhere. If you means in terms of contaminating the environment, most communities have electronics recycling centers.

My advice depends on who you are going to sell this to. If to a stranger, then I would wipe the drive and give them the disk and license key (because this is a notebook, it is probably stuck on the bottom of the notebook case). If to a friend or relative you trust, uninstall all your installed programs and delete your personal data, defrag the drive then wipe the free space. Defragging will overwrite much of the used space and wiping the free space will ensure no residual information remains. If to a friend or relative with limited computer experience, I would also install Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) so they have an effective anti-malware solution from the start.

Note as soon as the new user begins to use the computer, more and more of any remnants of your old data will be over written and the harder it will be for a badguy to recover it. Also understand that once you uninstall your programs and delete your personal data, it is highly unlikely anyone will "accidentally" stumble on to any of your personal information. It would take a badguy who is intentionally looking for it, using data recovery tools to find it. And even then, it likely would be only fragments. So a wipe is just to thwart the badguys.

Now as it's an xp system, it will depend on it's age as to if it came preloaded, and has a restore partition (often hidden), or if it had rescue disks or some other format to reset it, if it came preloaded or similar, replacing the hard drive would remove the operating system, assuming it was preloaded, then you would have a blank system, so replacing the drive, although perfect in many situations, may cause further issues after, so best advice if it has any kind of recovery solution, to restore the system to out of the box state (as though it's brand new) is the best way forward, select destructive restore if asked, it will wipe all your data, then when the new owner gets it they can add the owner details they want, and you will get a new operating system when buying a new system as said, hope this helps.

Wow, that's one big sentence and I'm not sure what it says. Maybe I need another cup of coffee! Anyway, age has nothing to do with it. Old or new, operating systems can be preloaded. And old or new, Retail or OEM, it may or may not be preloaded. That is, you can have a full retail license preloaded. Or you can get a computer with an OEM license that you need to install. Or you can buy computers with no OS at all. Though typically, notebooks and factory assembled PCs come with operating systems preloaded. However, we cannot assume one way or the other since we have no information on the brand or model number of this notebook, nor do we know how this "registered copy" of Windows go on it.

@ Ally - bottom line is this. If the OS is OEM (and being a notebook, it likely is), the OS must go with the computer (or be destroyed). If "Retail" you can keep it, but you must uninstall (or wipe) it from the computer.

To ensure none of your personal information gets in the wrong hands, wiping the drive is best, and easiest to do if you temporarily install or attach the drive, as a secondary drive (not boot) to another computer. This also gives you the opportunity to copy off any data files you want to keep.

Replacing the drive with a new one is likely to cost too much. People are not willing to pay much for used computers when new computers with modern operating systems can be had for just a few $100 anyway. And more and more software and modern peripherals won't even run on XP so many churches and other organizations can't even use the donated legacy hardware. So you might be better off just wiping the drive and donating the notebook and disks to Goodwill or Disabled Vets - who typically disassemble and sell the parts for copper and other precious metals.

Another option is to remove the hard drive and drill 3 holes all the way through the drive about 1 inch from the center spindle. This will destroy the platters in the drive and severely damage the drive's interface board. Then you can toss the drive, or better yet, take it to an electronics recycling center. Since 99.99% of all badguys are lazy bums, they are not going to waste their time or money on it and move on to easier pickings. If that remaining .01% is willing to take the time and effort, then they are targeting you specifically and you have bigger problems to deal with.

An even better idea would be to pass the PC onto a charity after properly wiping the drive with DBAN's boot and nuke. If it has a factory restore on it, restored it to that rather than wiping it.
Any OEM disk should go with it.

Considering XP is not long for this World (support wise) An XP retail boxed disk might be sold if you like, or if your feeling really generous, also passed onto to a charity that deals with PC's.

It's a good feeling

Hi guys, Thanks to everyone of you for the superb informative advice. The lappy was given to me by my bro last year without any OS disc so I wiped his HD and bought a copy of XP for it. I am just going to take your advice and wipe the HD a couple of times with D-Ban, re-install the OS and depending on its worth and if its in ok condition either sell it on or give it to charity. Best Regards and TC! cheers!

wipe the HD a couple of times with D-Ban

Once is enough because DBAN performs several passes across the whole during the process.

Thanks Digerati

Once is enough because DBAN performs several passes across the whole during the process

.

I'm not so sure.
I recently did just that for the first time, when before that I've always let DBAN complete to the "pass" notification.

When I interrupted DBAN before it finished the HDD was not recognized by the bios!
Maybe something to do with interrupting the wipe process?

I re-did it and let DBAN finish and it was fine, The first pass takes the longest, but after that it seems to complete the rest very quickly.

Cheers,
Lee

Hi Lee,

I'm sure that Digerati's recommendation is consistent with your own, and with your prior experience.

Selecting the least intensive "process" setting for DBAN and then using the (type) autonuke method for initiating DBAN should be sufficient for most users, unless they really do have "state secrets" saved on their HD and are fearful of a directed attack.

Starting with "autonuke" initiates a "process" of several "passes" conducted by DBAN.
DBAN alert the user when the combination of "passes" has completed and the selected "process" has done its full routine.

I'm not so sure.

I don't see what you are disagreeing with. You interrupted the process! That has nothing to do with my comment, or with letting DBAN complete its process.

So DBAN has an option to do just one pass? I didn't know that. If only one pass only is required and the HDD is going to then have XP installed, wouldn't it be easier to just use the OS install disk and do a re-format (not the quick option) and install XP, especially if a DBAN ISO has to be downloaded and then burnt to disk to do the same thing?

So DBAN has an option to do just one pass? I didn't know that.

Who said anything even close to that? I totally confused now.

Lee, The terms "pass" and "process" must be differentiated. The DBAN "process" is made up of several "passes". Even DBAN's minimum DoD autonuke writes and wipes with several "passes" across the full HD, using various patterns that are also adjusted from pass to pass. In order to result in a competent wipe, the full DBAN "process" must be allowed to run its entire course. Interrupting the process after 15 minutes, or after a completed "pass" can have unwanted consequence. (as you have experienced with HD not being recognized in BIOS) Why DBAN instead of Format via Windows installation CD? Windows Format -does not- wipe the MBR, nor does it produce read/write patterns sufficient to prevent easy File Recovery using commonly available software Recovery utilities. Fresh installation of Windows OS "should" over-write the MBR, but if the problem was MBR infection, or the MBR was otherwise compromised, it should be wiped before reinstallation. One complete run of the DBAN process will wipe the entire HD, including MBR space, plus will read/write sufficient to prevent all but a very advanced level of file recovery.