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Identity Theft: Computers And Laptops

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Identity Theft: Computers And Laptops

Robert Siciliano (Identity Theft Expert and CEO) gives expert video advice on: Is it safe to sell an old laptop or computer?; How can I prevent my laptop or computer from being stolen by identity thieves? and more...

Is it safe to sell an old laptop or computer?

In the event that you decide to sell your laptop or computer make sure that you completely reformat your hard drive, removing any and all traces of any data whatsoever that could compromise you, your family, or your clients if you are in business, because if they computer is resold that data is extracted that could compromise peoples identities. Reformatting a hard drive is essentially reinstalling the operating system. If you don't know how to reinstall the operating system you should have somebody else in your life do it for you. Otherwise, there are software systems you can buy and you can actually look up on the internet and search out keywords like "wipe hard drive info" in quotes and you'll find software programs you can then download and install that will reformat the hard drive for you.

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Tips & Comments
  1. Anonymous

    edit: pardon a couple of poor uses of English language there. "it's" should be "its".

  2. Anonymous

    This Robert Siciliano said that you can download and install software that will completely wipe your hard disk. For most PC users they only have one hard disk (!) and if you have software installed on that hard disk that does the formatting, how can you possibly format the hard disk when the software needed to wipe the disk is on the disk you want to wipe... I shall tell you EXACTLY how to blank a hard disk if you only have one hard disk in your computer. 1) You need to download a BOOTABLE disk image (usually in CD .iso format) of a "low-level format" utility, such as Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN), that bypasses any logical structure of a hard disk drive - hence "low-level". 2) Burn this .iso image to a CD (disk images are exact bit-by-bit copies of an existing disk - so you can make copies of disks!) 3) Put the CD into your CD-ROM drive 4) reboot your computer 5) Check that your computer can boot from the CD-ROM drive 6) When the computer boots to the CD wait for the software to start and get to it's user interface where you can select your method of wipe. There will usually be a selection of pre-defined wipe methods you can choose from, and advanced options for expert users. 7) Choose your method, choose your disk to wipe (this will usually be automatically found for you) 8) Start the format! Note: Low-level formatting will wipe the ENTIRE disk regardless of whether there are any partitions or hidden files etc. Such low-level formatting operates on the physical magnetic structure of a hard disk and thus will wipe the disk regardless of what file system is on the disk. The US DoD standard is to wipe the disk, using such a tool as DBAN, with a minimum of 25 passes using the Gutmann algorithm with a final "zero fill" once the wipe has completed. BE WARNED: THIS METHOD OF FORMAT WILL COMPLETELY WIPE YOUR HARD DISK TO THE US DoD STANDARDS. THE TIME TAKEN TO WIPE THE DISK IS ALSO DEPENDENT ON THE HARD DISK CAPACITY. I wiped a 20GB Maxtor hard disk using the DoD recommendation and it took nearly 3 days to complete. I got a clean hard disk that no-one would ever be able to get the data off though!