by 3 hours ago
ANSWERS: 3
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I would.. Mainly because even though you don't want to think anyone is going to take that old computer and get all your stuff off of it, you never can tell. and even if you think you don't have anything anyone would want.. again you never can tell.. It's best to get wipe it clean before you trash it.
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Yes, you should erase the hard drive before you dispose of a computer. As sunniebgi wrote, you can never be sure just what someone might be able to pull off of the hard drive. However, I would be a bit more specific. You should not just throw the files into the trask/recycling bin and empty it. You should obtain and use a program that will actually overwrite the data on the hard drive with nonsense data. It should do this several times to insure that no one can recover your data from the drive. If you are particularly paranoid, then you might also want to remove the hard drive from your computer, open it up, and smash the disks themselves. In any event, whenever you transfer a computer out of your possession, you should at least erase the hard drive to make sure that you don't leave information on it that someone could potentially use to steal your identity. Don't simply trust erasing select files. Erase the whole drive.
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There are several programs around the net that are just for this purpose. Some are even free and do a very good job of obliterating any sensitive info you would like to delete. One free one that I use is Derek's boot & nuke. It works great and is easy to operate. Chuckk
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