Deleting personal info from a new computer I have to return

[john2005]

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask if someone could please help me with the following issue. I have new computer that is not working right and I have to return it.

The computer is an emachines T6528 running Windows XP home edition.

I want to delete all of my personal and business email messages from outlook express and I also need to delete files inside of the my documents folder and inside of folders on my desktop.

I have faith in eraser, however, if I delete a file with eraser, since windows XP takes snapshots for it's restore function, will someone be able to use the restore function in XP to restore my personal files, even though they have been wiped ?

What is the easiest and best way to return the computer to the store like it was when I got it, but make it highly unlikely that anyone will be able to recover my personal and private data ?

I had planned on uninstalling all programs that I installed, then delete all of the information in "my documents" and other folders on my desktop with eraser, then wipe all free space. I would also delete all of the email dbx files with eraser.

I would appreciate any adice on this issue.

Thanks for your help.
John

 

[Robbie]

if you want to delete every personal bit of data, then I'd suggest using DBAN, which is bundled with Eraser. Use it with caution though, it deletes EVERYTHING on the hard drive, including the operating system. I'd only use this option if you have the original Windows XP disk to reinstall the OS plus you'd need to reformat your hard drive.

 

[nopostage]

Yup, I would also check the system restore options that came with that computer. The last eMachines I worked on came with system restore boot disks, but lately a lot of manufacturers have a hidden partition that holds the restore program and they ask you to press F10 or F11 or CTRL F11 (or something) during boot up to activate it. In either case you might want to run it and go through the process. That will bring your hard drive back to day one. But there still might be remnants of your personal on there. Then install Eraser and wipe free space using random characters.