Pretend, for a moment, that you have just purchased a brand new computer. You manage to bring it home from the electronics store, plug it in, load it up, and even play a game or two. Everything has worked out perfectly! A few days later and your new purchase continues to work flawlessly.

As time goes by, you seem to be using your old computer less and less until you finally realize that it is simply no longer needed around the house. So what should you do with this old machine before you give it away to a friend or hand it over to the local electronics recycling depot?

In truth, this largely depends upon what types of activities you performed on your old computer. If you only played games and read online articles (activities which do not involve any sort of personal information) then there is likely nothing you need to do before getting rid of it.

However, if you used your old computer to send personal emails, perform bank transactions, or save family photos (activities involving private information) then it is best that you erase the machine’s sensitive information before letting it out of your control.

This procedure seems simple enough: drag your sensitive information to the recycle bin and empty it. Unfortunately, this is not enough since information can remain hidden to the untrained eye. In order to guarantee that your computer data is irretrievable you have two options.

1.) The first option is to open up your computer’s case, take out its hard drive and bash it to bits with a hammer or like minded weapon. The hard drive is the component in your PC that stores all of your files and documents; subsequently, your files are destroyed when it is destroyed. The major problem with this method is that your computer will no longer be useable afterwards. Giving a workstation without a hard drive is like giving a car without an engine. Consequently, we advise you to go with the second method described below.

2.) The second option is to download and run either DBAN or Eraser; two software programs capable of securely erasing your entire hard drive with seemingly random information. Just remember that once you have run either of these programs all of the information on your computer will be irreversibly gone with no chance of retrieval.

Hopefully this brief discussion on what to do before you give away or recycle your old computer has been useful. In conclusion, if you currently have, or have had, important personal information on it then make sure to completely clean it before it leaves your hands.

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