How can I clean my computer when it won't let me?

August 4, 2008 7:56 AM

I need to swab my old laptop as completely as possible before I sell it... the only problem is, I don't have a restore or new operating system disc. Please help!

I'm wanting to sell my year-old HP DV1000 laptop, but HP did not include a restore or original Vista reinstall disc with the computer. Instead, they suggested I create and save a restore point on my laptop, which, of course, I chose not to do. Now I need to sell the laptop, but I want it as close to a clean slate as I can get it. I've uninstalled every program, deleted all personal files, cleaned out all caches and temporary file folders, but I still feel uneasy. I've also tried to create a restore point, but it's now saying that would require more space than is on my hard drive (wtf?!).

Does anyone have suggestions on how I can wipe my uncooperative laptop as clean as possible without having to shell out money for a new OS install disc? Thanks!

PS - It's running Vista Home.

posted by bjork24 to computers & internet (13 comments total)

Do you have a problem with selling it with no OS installed?

You could go download Darik's Boot and Nuke (here), which I use quite often at work. You can create a bootable disk that will just nuke the whole thing from orbit.

Of course, that's the whole thing, so if you want to keep Vista around, that won't work.

I can't believe they didn't give you any restore media. Are you sure there's not even, like, a recovery partition squared away somewhere on the hard drive?
posted by kbanas at 8:04 AM on August 4, 2008

I don't know how HP is with this stuff but Dell sent me the disks (XP Media Edition) and all of the drivers and all other software that was loaded onto a machine I'd purchased two years earlier. Here is the HP 800 number from the earlier MetaFilter post linking to a page with many companies 800 numbers. Good luck!
posted by dancestoblue at 8:08 AM on August 4, 2008

I think selling it without an OS would decrease its value, unfortunately.
posted by bjork24 at 8:09 AM on August 4, 2008

You can find restore disks on eBay... selling it with the restore disc will likely increase its value too.
posted by k8t at 8:11 AM on August 4, 2008

You can also purchase the original factory restore kit (or have whomever buys it do so). 1-800-HP-INVENT (474-6836). You'll need the Product number from the bottom of the PC and the Serial Number. They usually run about $15-20ish after S&H.
posted by alcoth at 8:25 AM on August 4, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

You can install any version of Windows Vista on your nuked PC - just make sure that you save your unique license key before you do so. See how to find the Windows Vista license key. So you could (legally) get a copy of the Vista install disks from your employer and install that copy, using your existing license key to authenticate it (as the license key is unique to your installation and that is what makes it legal, not a set of install disks). But you may also have a 10GB recovery partition on your hard drive, from which you can reinstall Windows Vista -- this is standard for HP machines. Try Restore the PC to its original condition with the HP Recovery Manager if Windows Vista is not accessible to see if this works. (Record your license key first - in extremis you can probably get a very cheap set of Vista disks off eBay, but these are only legal if you have a Certificate of Authenticity and the license key for your own installation).
Like kbanas, I would also recommend overwriting all of your data using Darik's Boot and Nuke. I have used this a few times - it is an excellent way to overwrite all of the data on your disk so that no-one can recover any of it (apparently, there is a whole underground of people who buy and search used machines for credit card numbers etc. before they sell them on, ditto used hard drives). You can choose which partitions to nuke, choosing only the "operating" partition, so it is worth looking to see if you do have a hidden partition on the HD.
Please note that the above is my (personal) understanding of Microsoft's copyright rules, which I obtained from advice posted on the Microsoft website, when I was looking to do the same thing. This may now be wrong, as they change their position so frequently ... :-)
posted by Susurration at 8:40 AM on August 4, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

My HP laptop has a hard drive partition with a system restore.
posted by k8t at 9:07 AM on August 4, 2008

Oh - and make yourself a Windows boot disk before doing anything else. Then you can still access the PC if anything goes wrong ...
posted by Susurration at 9:10 AM on August 4, 2008

Be careful, many windows keys are specific to the original cd. Your HP license key may not work with someone else's cd.

Create a new userid. Log in as that user. Delete your old profile. Delete your old userid. We used to use a freeware product called Eraser that wiped unused disk space to sanitize the pc's deleted files.
posted by theora55 at 9:21 AM on August 4, 2008

I think I deleted the restore partition to get more room back when I first got the machine (I know, I'm stupid). If I order the restore kit from HP, can I use Darik's Boot and Nuke and then restore the system with the new discs?
posted by bjork24 at 9:22 AM on August 4, 2008

If yoy restore, don't worry about Nuking.
posted by k8t at 9:30 AM on August 4, 2008

Sweet. Thanks guys!
posted by bjork24 at 9:37 AM on August 4, 2008

k8t, he needs to nuke the data on the HD because he wants to sell the notebook. It is not a good idea to just reinstall Windows, because your personal data is not overwritten when you delete files -- delete tends to just delete the link to the data from the file index. Even files that are overwritten are recoverable in part (and that part may be the bit with your credit card or online bank account details - call me paranoid but I'd rather not risk it). So to answer bjork24's question -- I would check with HP that the restore disks will give you a complete install of the Windows if you delete all data on the system. What I suspect they will do is allow you to restore the Windows restore partition, but will not completely reinstall Windows. So you should use a "partial nuke" eraser program. Eraser/Heidi is a good one, that allows you to delete selected folders (sounds like this may be the app mentioned by theora55). My preference would be to delete all the folders on your C: drive using Eraser/Heidi and then restore Windows from the restore partition (once you have used the HP recovery disks to put this back). Just read the instructions on the HP website and make sure that you don't delete your new restore partition - or it's back to buying a new copy of Windows Vista ... :-)
posted by Susurration at 8:14 PM on August 4, 2008