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    How can I Clear Laptop Hard Drive

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by KillaHaZe, Aug 8, 2007.

  1. KillaHaZe

    KillaHaZe Notebook Consultant

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    I currently have 2 laptops, an Inspiron 1000 and Inspiron 4150. Currently the 4150 doesn't work because it has a broken motherboard. I am selling the parts of this laptop on ebay. When the Inspiron 4150 broke, the hard drive still had some of my documents on it. So before I sell it, I wanted to delete these files. However, since the 4150 laptop does not work I have no way of deleting the files.

    Can I swap the hard drives on the Inspiron 4150 and then delete the files on explorer or do something else? Can someone present an easier way to clear the hard drive?


    Thank you
     
    KillaHaZe, Aug 8, 2007
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  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Even when you delete files, you are not deleting them...you are just erasing the file's entry in the file allocation table. You need to do a full wipe of the drive and physically write over every bit in the disk. There are some freeware apps that do this.

    Personally, I'd never sell a hard drive unless you really clean it well (US Department of Defense has a good routine to destroy all data and that is the only one I use). Just get an external enclosure and use your old drive as giant USB storage bin.
     
    Greg, Aug 8, 2007
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  3. KillaHaZe

    KillaHaZe Notebook Consultant

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    im not worried about deleting files them selves. How can I actually view the files on the laptop in order to delete them? Can I switch the hard drive on my other dell?
     
    KillaHaZe, Aug 8, 2007
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  4. adinu

    adinu I pwn teh n00bs.

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    If both laptops take the same drive interface (IDE/ATA or SATA) then yes you can take the HD and put it in the other laptop. Then use an OS cd (98/2000/XP/Vista) and you can format the drive to sell it off.

    Otherwise, you can use an external enclosure/cables and connect it thru a USB port and format it in windows.
     
    adinu, Aug 8, 2007
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