Preparing for PC disposal - plus charity uses

[airbolt]

A two part question. My old PC is still working but i never use it. It's a Pentium 2 running Windows 98 so it's not really worth selling.

My first question is that can it still be of use to a charity - perhaps in a country where it wouldnt be out of date?

My second question is how do i fully and completely scrub the hard disk.? I know that deleting files doesnt really delete them and i dont want to risk fraud.

Hope someone can help

[Buenchico]

This might help:
http://www.itforcharities.co.uk/donorinf.htm

Since the charity probably won't require your operating system, the easiest way to delete all of your data (including your OS and all of your programs) is to format the hard drive. (MI5 might be able to recover a small amount of data after a format but the type of people who search PC drives for personal data for criminal uses won't be able to do so).

Formatting your hard drive is really easy. You should already have a Windows 98 startup disk. (If not, put a floppy disk into the drive and go to Start > Settings > control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Startup Disk > Create Disk. With the disk in the floppy drive, restart your PC. This should start your computer in DOS. Choose the option to start with CD support if you intend to reload Windows 98 (or any other OS) after reformatting. Otherwise, choose the final, 'minimal' option. Type 'C:format' (without the quote marks), hit 'Return' and your disk will be formatted.

The previous paragraph assumes that your PC is set to boot from a floppy ahead of the hard drive (which is what most Windows 98 PCs will do). If your PC doesn't boot into DOS, but starts Windows instead, you should try restarting while holding down F8. If that doesn't work, you'll need to enter the BIOS to change the order in which the PC seeks a boot source. (Try holding down the 'Delete' key while restarting).

If you've used the 'boot with CD support option', so that you can reinstall Windows, read the on-screen information to check which drive letter has been assigned to your CD drive. (It's usually E, not D as you might expect). After formatting, insert the OS disk into the CD drive and type 'E:setup' (without the quote marks) and hit 'Return'.

Chris

[fo3nix]

Don't just format your drive as the above suggests; this isn't secure enough.

Use eraser to erase files more securely:

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

[ACtheTROLL]

fo3 is right
all formatting does is overwrite the file table (fat/fat32 or mft)
my 6 year old nephew could recover that in les than an hour. If the machine leaves the country .... there is no telling where (and with who) it will end up.

be safe
the downside of eraser is it takes ages
my method is install eraser .... delete folders in my documents using top security (35 passes) then follow
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/faq.php#erase hd

to nuke the rest

[buildersmate]

Yes the important thing is you have to overwrite the original hard disk several times over before the magnetic traces of the original files are so weak that they can't be recovered. Security-centred organisations put their redundant hard disks in a furnace to dispose of them.

[airbolt]

Thanks for all the answers . I appreciate your help