how do I clean up the old computer?

[John Milbury-Steen]

Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my new WIndows XP computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98 system) so that it no longer contains any passwords or personal information? I have already deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents. The system will not let me reformat the hard disk.

[Amethyst]

John Milbury-Steen wrote:
> Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my new WIndows XP
> computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98 system) so that it
> no longer contains any passwords or personal information? I have already
> deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents. The system will
> not let me reformat the hard disk.

Please do not post in HTML - this is a plain text group. Why will it not let
you format the hard drive? What's preventing you from booting from floppy
and formatting? Are you planning on selling or giving the old system away?
If so, a format is not enough. Someone who knows what they're doing can
'unformat' the drive in a few short minutes. If you are planning on getting
rid of the system, I suggest you visit the site of the HD manufacturer and
see if they have any tools that will permanently destroy all data on a disk.
Think of a format as applying paint over wallpaper - someone can easily come
along with a can of paint stripper and remove the paint.
--�
Cassandra
Card carrying member of the Fresh Start Club 'The Undead Are People Too!'

Reply address is fake. Please send all praise, abuse, insults, bequests
of £1million to cassandra (at) craigy34 (dot) freeserve (dot) co (dot) uk.
Change the obvious to the obvious.
Requests for private assistance will not be acknowledged. Please post all
correspondence to the group so that all may benefit. Thank you.

[Amir Facade]

Don't pay her any attention. She doesn't even know if her name is Amethyst
or Cassandra.

Check out this product. Its called BC Wipe and it will clean up your hard
drive so you canpass it on to whoever you want without worrying about what
may be on it.
Here's some helpful HTML for you.
http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/bcwipe3.htm


"Amethyst" > wrote in message
...
> John Milbury-Steen wrote:
> > Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my new WIndows XP
> > computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98 system) so that it
> > no longer contains any passwords or personal information? I have
already
> > deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents. The system will
> > not let me reformat the hard disk.
>
> Please do not post in HTML - this is a plain text group. Why will it not
let
> you format the hard drive? What's preventing you from booting from floppy
> and formatting? Are you planning on selling or giving the old system away?
> If so, a format is not enough. Someone who knows what they're doing can
> 'unformat' the drive in a few short minutes. If you are planning on
getting
> rid of the system, I suggest you visit the site of the HD manufacturer and
> see if they have any tools that will permanently destroy all data on a
disk.
> Think of a format as applying paint over wallpaper - someone can easily
come
> along with a can of paint stripper and remove the paint.
> --�
> Cassandra
> Card carrying member of the Fresh Start Club 'The Undead Are People Too!'
>
> Reply address is fake. Please send all praise, abuse, insults, bequests
> of £1million to cassandra (at) craigy34 (dot) freeserve (dot) co (dot) uk.
> Change the obvious to the obvious.
> Requests for private assistance will not be acknowledged. Please post all
> correspondence to the group so that all may benefit. Thank you.
>
>


---
Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But Three Rights Make A Left.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.476 / Virus Database: 273 - Release Date: 4/24/2003

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi John,

Boot from a startup floppy to reformat, you can't do it while Windows is =
running. Then do a clean install. This will remove all data from the =
drive, though it can be easily recovered by someone who really wants to =
see what used to be on the drive. If you are worried that someone may do =
that, try a zero-write utility, there are many of them freely available =
from your favorite download site or the web site of the drive maker.

The only way to truely make the data unrecoverable is to place the hard =
drive on the pavement and pound it to smithereens with a sledge hammer.
--=20
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x - =
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone -
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org

"John Milbury-Steen" > wrote in message =
...
Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my new WIndows XP =
computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98 system) so that it =
no longer contains any passwords or personal information? I have =
already deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents. The =
system will not let me reformat the hard disk.

[Starz_Kid]

Hello, My comment is Similar to Rick's. Although I was gonna recommend
that you
take the Hard Drive and drill a few holes into the platters!!!! NO way will
Norton's get any data from it!!

Starz_Kid...

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" > wrote in message
...
Hi John,

Boot from a startup floppy to reformat, you can't do it while Windows is
running. Then do a clean install. This will remove all data from the drive,
though it can be easily recovered by someone who really wants to see what
used to be on the drive. If you are worried that someone may do that, try a
zero-write utility, there are many of them freely available from your
favorite download site or the web site of the drive maker.

The only way to truely make the data unrecoverable is to place the hard
drive on the pavement and pound it to smithereens with a sledge hammer.
--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone -
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org

"John Milbury-Steen" > wrote in message
...
Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my new WIndows XP
computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98 system) so that it no
longer contains any passwords or personal information? I have already
deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents. The system will not
let me reformat the hard disk.

[Jim Macklin]

SpyBot has a file shredder program included.

You should be able find some file shredders by doing a
search on Google. These can be downloaded and run from a
floppy, they will make multiple passes on the disk and
over-write the data with blanking data. There are some free
versions.




"Amethyst" > wrote in message
...
| John Milbury-Steen wrote:
| > Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my
new WIndows XP
| > computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98
system) so that it
| > no longer contains any passwords or personal
information? I have already
| > deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents.
The system will
| > not let me reformat the hard disk.
|
| Please do not post in HTML - this is a plain text group.
Why will it not let
| you format the hard drive? What's preventing you from
booting from floppy
| and formatting? Are you planning on selling or giving the
old system away?
| If so, a format is not enough. Someone who knows what
they're doing can
| 'unformat' the drive in a few short minutes. If you are
planning on getting
| rid of the system, I suggest you visit the site of the HD
manufacturer and
| see if they have any tools that will permanently destroy
all data on a disk.
| Think of a format as applying paint over wallpaper -
someone can easily come
| along with a can of paint stripper and remove the paint.
| --�
| Cassandra
| Card carrying member of the Fresh Start Club 'The Undead
Are People Too!'
|
| Reply address is fake. Please send all praise, abuse,
insults, bequests
| of £1million to cassandra (at) craigy34 (dot) freeserve
(dot) co (dot) uk.
| Change the obvious to the obvious.
| Requests for private assistance will not be acknowledged.
Please post all
| correspondence to the group so that all may benefit. Thank
you.
|
|

[Tracy]

If you remaster a computer, put it back to factory settings, can someone who
knows what they are doing find out what used to be on the computer before it
was wiped?
TIA


"Starz_Kid" > wrote in message
...
> Hello, My comment is Similar to Rick's. Although I was gonna recommend
> that you
> take the Hard Drive and drill a few holes into the platters!!!! NO way
will
> Norton's get any data from it!!
>
> Starz_Kid...
>
> "Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" > wrote in message
> ...
> Hi John,
>
> Boot from a startup floppy to reformat, you can't do it while Windows is
> running. Then do a clean install. This will remove all data from the
drive,
> though it can be easily recovered by someone who really wants to see what
> used to be on the drive. If you are worried that someone may do that, try
a
> zero-write utility, there are many of them freely available from your
> favorite download site or the web site of the drive maker.
>
> The only way to truely make the data unrecoverable is to place the hard
> drive on the pavement and pound it to smithereens with a sledge hammer.
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x -
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone -
> www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org
>
> "John Milbury-Steen" > wrote in message
> ...
> Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my new WIndows XP
> computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98 system) so that it no
> longer contains any passwords or personal information? I have already
> deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents. The system will not
> let me reformat the hard disk.
>
>

[Amethyst]

Amir Facade wrote:
> Don't pay her any attention. She doesn't even know if her name is Amethyst
> or Cassandra.
>
> Check out this product. Its called BC Wipe and it will clean up your hard
> drive so you canpass it on to whoever you want without worrying about what
> may be on it.
> Here's some helpful HTML for you.
> http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/bcwipe3.htm

It's called a 'pseudonym' - I don't suppose for one moment your real name is
'Amir Facade'. I gave him some useful advice - you just leapt right on in
and started trolling.

No matter, that's what killfiles were invented for.

*PLONK*



--�
Cassandra
Card carrying member of the Fresh Start Club 'The Undead Are People Too!'

Reply address is fake. Please send all praise, abuse, insults, bequests
of £1million to cassandra (at) craigy34 (dot) freeserve (dot) co (dot) uk.
Change the obvious to the obvious.
Requests for private assistance will not be acknowledged. Please post all
correspondence to the group so that all may benefit. Thank you.

[Piss'n-da-wind]

Xref: kermit microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics:105265


>-----Original Message-----
>Amir Facade wrote:
>> Don't pay her any attention. She doesn't even know if
her name is Amethyst
>> or Cassandra.
>>
>> Check out this product. Its called BC Wipe and it will
clean up your hard
>> drive so you canpass it on to whoever you want without
worrying about what
>> may be on it.
>> Here's some helpful HTML for you.
>> http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/bcwipe3.htm
>
>It's called a 'pseudonym' - I don't suppose for one
moment your real name is
>'Amir Facade'. I gave him some useful advice - you just
leapt right on in
>and started trolling.
>
>No matter, that's what killfiles were invented for.
>
>*PLONK*

And if you weren't such a tight a**ed bitch, being so
technical (while actually being wrong much of the time),
you wouldn't get people so ****y with you.

[Jim Macklin]

yes


"Tracy" > wrote in message
...
| If you remaster a computer, put it back to factory
settings, can someone who
| knows what they are doing find out what used to be on the
computer before it
| was wiped?
| TIA
|
|
| "Starz_Kid" > wrote in message
| ...
| > Hello, My comment is Similar to Rick's. Although I
was gonna recommend
| > that you
| > take the Hard Drive and drill a few holes into the
platters!!!! NO way
| will
| > Norton's get any data from it!!
| >
| > Starz_Kid...
| >
| > "Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" > wrote in message
| > ...
| > Hi John,
| >
| > Boot from a startup floppy to reformat, you can't do it
while Windows is
| > running. Then do a clean install. This will remove all
data from the
| drive,
| > though it can be easily recovered by someone who really
wants to see what
| > used to be on the drive. If you are worried that someone
may do that, try
| a
| > zero-write utility, there are many of them freely
available from your
| > favorite download site or the web site of the drive
maker.
| >
| > The only way to truely make the data unrecoverable is to
place the hard
| > drive on the pavement and pound it to smithereens with a
sledge hammer.
| > --
| > Best of Luck,
| >
| > Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x -
| http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
| > Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone -
| > www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
| > Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org
| >
| > "John Milbury-Steen" >
wrote in message
| >
...
| > Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my
new WIndows XP
| > computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98
system) so that it no
| > longer contains any passwords or personal information?
I have already
| > deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents.
The system will not
| > let me reformat the hard disk.
| >
| >
|
|

[Amethyst]

****'n-da-wind wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Amir Facade wrote:
>>> Don't pay her any attention. She doesn't even know if her name is
>>> Amethyst or Cassandra.
>>>
>>> Check out this product. Its called BC Wipe and it will clean up your
>>> hard drive so you canpass it on to whoever you want without worrying
>>> about what may be on it.
>>> Here's some helpful HTML for you.
>>> http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/bcwipe3.htm
>>
>> It's called a 'pseudonym' - I don't suppose for one moment your real
>> name is 'Amir Facade'. I gave him some useful advice - you just leapt
>> right on in and started trolling.
>>
>> No matter, that's what killfiles were invented for.
>>
>> *PLONK*
>
> And if you weren't such a tight a**ed bitch, being so
> technical (while actually being wrong much of the time),
> you wouldn't get people so ****y with you.

OK list me three times when I've been wrong. I hardly think you're right
about everything 100% of the time...

--�
Cassandra
Card carrying member of the Fresh Start Club 'The Undead Are People Too!'

Reply address is fake. Please send all praise, abuse, insults, bequests
of £1million to cassandra (at) craigy34 (dot) freeserve (dot) co (dot) uk.
Change the obvious to the obvious.
Requests for private assistance will not be acknowledged. Please post all
correspondence to the group so that all may benefit. Thank you.

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Absolutely.

--=20
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x - =
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone -
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org

"Tracy" > wrote in message =
...
> If you remaster a computer, put it back to factory settings, can =
someone who
> knows what they are doing find out what used to be on the computer =
before it
> was wiped?
> TIA
>=20
>=20
> "Starz_Kid" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello, My comment is Similar to Rick's. Although I was gonna =
recommend
> > that you
> > take the Hard Drive and drill a few holes into the platters!!!! NO =
way
> will
> > Norton's get any data from it!!
> >
> > Starz_Kid...
> >
> > "Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > Hi John,
> >
> > Boot from a startup floppy to reformat, you can't do it while =
Windows is
> > running. Then do a clean install. This will remove all data from the
> drive,
> > though it can be easily recovered by someone who really wants to see =
what
> > used to be on the drive. If you are worried that someone may do =
that, try
> a
> > zero-write utility, there are many of them freely available from =
your
> > favorite download site or the web site of the drive maker.
> >
> > The only way to truely make the data unrecoverable is to place the =
hard
> > drive on the pavement and pound it to smithereens with a sledge =
hammer.
> > --
> > Best of Luck,
> >
> > Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x -
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> > Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone -
> > www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> > Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org
> >
> > "John Milbury-Steen" > wrote in =
message
> > ...
> > Another query for you cyber-gurus: Now that I have my new WIndows =
XP
> > computer, how do I clean up my old one (a Windows 98 system) so that =
it no
> > longer contains any passwords or personal information? I have =
already
> > deleted all personal files I can see in My Documents. The system =
will not
> > let me reformat the hard disk.
> >
> >
>=20
>

[Bee]

I read somewhere sometime ago a commercial extolling the strength of a data
erasing software. The gist of it is something like this: a national
security agency asserts that data are only considered irrecoverable after
overwritten by gibberish at least 100 times. The software in the blurb
claims to overwrite 5 to 6 times, which is believed to be adequate for you
and me. The original data apparently can be reconstituted by the magnetic
traces left behind by those in the know. So, overwriting an old file is
like "a coat of paint" over it. Amethyst-Cassandra, has a point. Jim
mentioned "repeated passes" is consistent with what I read. So is Nutcase'
assertion of a complete physical destruction of the disk; this is not nutty.


--
Bee.
I have found my Shangri-La, at the moment, in ntlworld.


----------------------------------------------------

[Unknown]

But you need about $100,000 worth of equipment to recover data that has been
overwritten.
"Bee" > wrote in message
...
> I read somewhere sometime ago a commercial extolling the strength of a
data
> erasing software. The gist of it is something like this: a national
> security agency asserts that data are only considered irrecoverable after
> overwritten by gibberish at least 100 times. The software in the blurb
> claims to overwrite 5 to 6 times, which is believed to be adequate for you
> and me. The original data apparently can be reconstituted by the magnetic
> traces left behind by those in the know. So, overwriting an old file is
> like "a coat of paint" over it. Amethyst-Cassandra, has a point. Jim
> mentioned "repeated passes" is consistent with what I read. So is
Nutcase'
> assertion of a complete physical destruction of the disk; this is not
nutty.
>
>
> --
> Bee.
> I have found my Shangri-La, at the moment, in ntlworld.
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
>

[Amethyst]

Unknown wrote:
> But you need about $100,000 worth of equipment to recover data that has
> been overwritten.

Not true. I know of a bloke who can do it for less than £100.

--�
Cassandra
Card carrying member of the Fresh Start Club 'The Undead Are People Too!'

Reply address is fake. Please send all praise, abuse, insults, bequests
of £1million to cassandra (at) craigy34 (dot) freeserve (dot) co (dot) uk.
Change the obvious to the obvious.
Requests for private assistance will not be acknowledged. Please post all
correspondence to the group so that all may benefit. Thank you.