question on how to sell a used laptop and removing the hard drive - please help

new member, computer illiterate, filled with questions, but will try to be quick and to the point. my ibm thinkpad r40 died recently, bought a new lenovo thinkpad r61. now i want to sell my r40 (to recoup some money spent on the r61) and probably through ebay.

question 1) Is the hard drive the only thing i should remove to ensure my information isnt stolen and if not, what else? The motherboard was the initial problem, so thats screwed up and i know that its now a "parts" laptop. Screen, battery, and 256RAM are all still working and intact. (Amazingly after 4 yrs use, i still have the original box, all manuals, cords and the backup windows xp software still sealed)

question 2) How do i recover the data off the old 40gb hard drive from the r40? Ive been researching somewhat, so is it as simple as buying one of those usb hard drive encasements and plugging it up to the new laptop to retreive the files?

Many THANKS in advance and please assume im very retarded and explain thoroughly. sy

 

Q1: yes, the HDD is the only thing that stores your info so your safe removing it and getting your data off it.
Q2: The easiest and cheapest way of getting data off a drive (assuming you have a desktop and the laptop drive isn't dead), [and you don't feel like getting an external drive] is to go to your local computer store and buy a 2.5" hard drive adapter and hook your laptop hard drive up to your desktop. Then you can either add it as a second hard drive or boot directly from it and transfer all your data through usb or cd/dvd. If you're unsure about how to do any of this you can ask the computer guy or post here.

Edit: If you want, when you're done with removing your data you could wipe the hard drive and sell it. Use DBAN (Derek's Boot and Nuke) to format it. Then you could either reinstall Windows or leave it as is.

 

Hi,

Where can I get a 2.5" hard drive adapter. I am in Canada and have searched "The Source" and a few other places but couldnt find any.

Are the adaptors different for different type of drive or manufacturer?

Thanks
Jay

 

google 2.5" hard drive enclosure.

 

google Gdrive.. haha... i wonder what will happen to external HD market ..& as u know google servers offer great speeds

 

thanks for the help. just an update: i havent sold the old r40 yet (the r61 is sweet), but i got one of the usb 2.5 hard drive encasements off newegg for 15.00 delivered and got all my files! dont need the extra space yet, but if i do, ill look into DBAN to reformat.