What should I do to prepare my computer before I give it away? September 10 2007
Before you give your old computer away, you should probably take a few moments ensure that you don't leave any personal information on it. You may think that deleting files and old programs will do an effective job, but this is a misperception because deleted files and programs can be easily recovered. The best way to remove your personal information is with a Hard Drive Clean-up program.
Once installed, a hard drive clean-up program will erase your entire hard drive including all files, programs, and even the operating system. In addition, it will overwrite the deleted files with several random characters making the recovery of the deleted files virtually impossible.
These programs start about $30 and can be purchased in most electronics or business products store. Here are just a few:
-Drive Scrubber: http://www.iolo.com/ds/3/
-Window Washer (the System Eraser utility in Window Washer): http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/windowwasher/?id=H2-HHO_Links-WW&WRSID=3071fb61c6fe68131c28fe4a363413d2
-WipeDrive: http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php
Once the process is started, it will take some time to complete so please plan accordingly. Depending on the number of sweeps of random characters, wiping your hard drive may take a few hours to a full day. The clean-up program you choose should provide an estimated time for completion when you start the process.
After you have wiped your hard drive, you can sell, donate, or recycle it. If you decide to sell it, expect to only get a fraction for what you paid.
If you want to sell your computer:
Ebay is a popular venue to sell old computers: http://www.ebay.com
If you choose to donate it and live in Austin:
You can do so at Goodwill Industries: https://www.austincomputerworks.org/
If you want to recycle it:
Both Dell and HP offer recycling programs:
Dell
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/dell_recycling?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Free recycling on Dell brand computers also including:
-Printers
-Printer Toners
-Printer Cartridges
HP
https://warp1.external.hp.com/recycle/
Accepts all computer brands for a nominal fee.
That's it! | 
