Cleaning/Erasing old computers to give away?

We recently purchased new computers for our office and we'd like to clean
and sanitize the two old Dells (P-II, 266 and 300) to give to employees
whose families don't have one. Also, I work at an impoverished elementary
school and want to give two old home computers to students too.

Should I go the thorough method and reformat the hard drive, then re-install
Win 98se, Microsoft Office, etc rather than just erase the excess programs
and defrag?

I did reformat 2 computers 1½ years ago, but don't exactly remember how.
I found this article today,
http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1
and it sounds a bit intimidating.

I bet there are a lot of people with old computers to give away; I could
probably round up 5-10 more at my school.
I'd like to get two ready this week so they can be used for Christmas gifts.

Does anyone know of simpler instructions or have advice?
Nan

the process is arduous and time consuming when done from scratch, but some
model dells have a factory software 'image' embedded on the drive. on those
systems you simply boot to a dos prompt and type 'zztop' and the system
restores itself to the original factory fresh condition (destroying existing
data on the system). once done a simple wipe program can be run to ensure
erasure of remnants of data stored from parts of the hard marked as
'unused' (but had once been used). bcwipe an easy utility that has a free 30
day trial to do just this. it is available from tucows.com. alternatively,
you could just remove the hard disk from the computer and physically destroy
it and donate the rest of the system for someone else to rebuild (software
wise) with a new hard disk.

if you want install instructions to rebuild from scratch then tell us what
operating system you want to reinstall... and what model computer that you
want to do it on...

"Whelan" wrote in message
...
We recently purchased new computers for our office and we'd like to clean
and sanitize the two old Dells (P-II, 266 and 300) to give to employees
whose families don't have one. Also, I work at an impoverished elementary
school and want to give two old home computers to students too.

Should I go the thorough method and reformat the hard drive, then
re-install
Win 98se, Microsoft Office, etc rather than just erase the excess programs
and defrag?

I did reformat 2 computers 1½ years ago, but don't exactly remember how.
I found this article today,

http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1
and it sounds a bit intimidating.

I bet there are a lot of people with old computers to give away; I could
probably round up 5-10 more at my school.
I'd like to get two ready this week so they can be used for Christmas
gifts.

Does anyone know of simpler instructions or have advice?
Nan

good disk sanitizing program for disk:
http://www.pcinspector.de/emaxx/uk/welcome.htm

"Mark A. Stewart" wrote in message
ink.net...
good disk sanitizing program for disk:
http://www.pcinspector.de/emaxx/uk/welcome.htm



Tom got it right with Eraser......the boot floppy utility he refers to that
is bundled with Eraser is called DBAN.

Not sure if you care, but there may be some licensing problems with good ol'
Microsoft in the "redistribution" of their software. Depends of course on how
your office obtained the software licenses in the first place and whether or not
you care about what Microsoft has to say about stuff like that.

BT


"Whelan" wrote in message
...
We recently purchased new computers for our office and we'd like to clean
and sanitize the two old Dells (P-II, 266 and 300) to give to employees
whose families don't have one. Also, I work at an impoverished elementary
school and want to give two old home computers to students too.

Should I go the thorough method and reformat the hard drive, then re-install
Win 98se, Microsoft Office, etc rather than just erase the excess programs
and defrag?

I did reformat 2 computers 1½ years ago, but don't exactly remember how.
I found this article today,

http://support.microsoft.com/default...osoft.com:80/s
upport/kb/articles/q255/8/67.asp&NoWebContent=1
and it sounds a bit intimidating.

I bet there are a lot of people with old computers to give away; I could
probably round up 5-10 more at my school.
I'd like to get two ready this week so they can be used for Christmas gifts.

Does anyone know of simpler instructions or have advice?
Nan

This message is Opinion. There are no facts here, just some
experiance.

Identity theft is the "shark attacks" of the 21 centuary. Odds are
that any data that might be on that drive is no big deal. The amount
of time, effort, and money required to pull usable information from a
hard drive that has been formatted makes trying to read you old emails
seem pretty pointless. I can see the need for "data destruction" if
these were buisness computers with hundreds of clients personal
information on it.

You stated that you wish to give these to impoverished families that
dont have computers. If they don't have computers now, they most
likely lack the technical knowldge to play solitare, much less scour
your old drive for erased data.

I think you will be fine if you just reinstall Windows. Pop in the
Win98 boot floppy, choose the "start computer with CD-ROM support"
option. When you get an A: prompt type "format C:" then when its
done, just type setup and install Windows.

The other thing is you are talking about doing 3 or more of these
computers. That takes time. Save some time, instead of totally
cleaning the drive, add some useful software such as Windows Updates,
IE6, Adaware, a good pop-up blocker, etc...

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions.
The Dell image idea sounds like an easy solution, but I don't think it will
work this time.

When we bought these from Dell in 6/98, they came with Win 95. These were my
husband's office computers until 2 weeks ago. They both ran "Computer Age
Dentist" practice mgmt software and one ran Quickbooks.

The one I want to get ready FIRST (and give to one of his employees by next
Monday) is a Dimension PII/266. Its hard drive died and was replaced in
Summer 2002. The person who replaced it then installed WinMe on it -- I
don't know why.

I want to put Win 98se on it now; I think that would be better than Me.
(It's what I use at work; I run the computer lab in a K-6 school with 28
workstations.) Then I will reinstall the MS Office 97 that came on it, plus
some Educ programs (I bought everything avail in the mid-90s and know some
very good shareware) and some useful utilities. The employee we are giving
this to has a daughter 13 and sons 8 & 9. They have never owned a computer,
but she is clever so I want to be sure the Quickbooks can't be found.

* If reformatting and switching the OS from Me to 98 (only this one computer
has Me), should I make/use a 98 or Me bootdisk?

* The Eraser, PCInspector, BCWipe programs, ... are these things you would
do INSTEAD OF reformatting C, before, or just additional precautions after
reformatting?

* So, this first one was a small bus computer with financial info and it
will go to someone inexperienced but smart.

Re the other computers, which I'll probably postpone till January, the
Yeti's assumption about the school families is correct. The students are all
below grade level and 90% of the parents don't speak English (or play
solitaire). They'll mainly play games, use word processing, internet,
keyboarding, ... and hopefully build skills for future success.
Nan

PS: I don't know their model # but they were Dimensions, PII, one 266 one
300, purchased June 1998. I have service tag #s but that prob doesn't matter
at this date. Then the next two I'll work on are not Dells, but built by a
former local shop and a computer show regular -- both started out with Win
95c then upgraded to 98se.

"Christopher Muto" wrote in message
...
the process is arduous and time consuming when done from scratch, but some
model dells have a factory software 'image' embedded on the drive. on
those
systems you simply boot to a dos prompt and type 'zztop' and the system
restores itself to the original factory fresh condition (destroying
existing
data on the system). once done a simple wipe program can be run to ensure
erasure of remnants of data stored from parts of the hard marked as
'unused' (but had once been used). bcwipe an easy utility that has a free
30
day trial to do just this. it is available from tucows.com.
alternatively,
you could just remove the hard disk from the computer and physically
destroy
it and donate the rest of the system for someone else to rebuild (software
wise) with a new hard disk.

if you want install instructions to rebuild from scratch then tell us what
operating system you want to reinstall... and what model computer that you
want to do it on...

"Whelan" wrote in message
...
We recently purchased new computers for our office and we'd like to
clean
and sanitize the two old Dells (P-II, 266 and 300) to give to employees
whose families don't have one. Also, I work at an impoverished
elementary
school and want to give two old home computers to students too.

Should I go the thorough method and reformat the hard drive, then
re-install
Win 98se, Microsoft Office, etc rather than just erase the excess
programs
and defrag?

I did reformat 2 computers 1½ years ago, but don't exactly remember how.
I found this article today,


http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1
and it sounds a bit intimidating.

I bet there are a lot of people with old computers to give away; I could
probably round up 5-10 more at my school.
I'd like to get two ready this week so they can be used for Christmas
gifts.

Does anyone know of simpler instructions or have advice?
Nan

"Whelan" wrote in message ...


I want to put Win 98se on it now; I think that would be better than Me.
(It's what I use at work; I run the computer lab in a K-6 school with 28
workstations.) Then I will reinstall the MS Office 97 that came on it, plus
some Educ programs (I bought everything avail in the mid-90s and know some
very good shareware) and some useful utilities. The employee we are giving
this to has a daughter 13 and sons 8 & 9. They have never owned a computer,
but she is clever so I want to be sure the Quickbooks can't be found.

* If reformatting and switching the OS from Me to 98 (only this one computer
has Me), should I make/use a 98 or Me bootdisk?

* The Eraser, PCInspector, BCWipe programs, ... are these things you would
do INSTEAD OF reformatting C, before, or just additional precautions after
reformatting?

* So, this first one was a small bus computer with financial info and it
will go to someone inexperienced but smart.


Thoes programs are additional things that you do along with format.
You still have to format the drive. Win98SE is way better than WinME,
stick with that. I understand your buisness need to erase your drive,
but I am telling you that you can format it with no need for a "data
destruction" program. As a PC tech and from IRC Chat rooms I can't
tell you how many times I've heard "I erased an important
song/picture/document and I cant get it back" And thats from inside a
running Windows OS. After you format the drive, your quick books
will be gone and no one will be able to access it with out special
tools, and hours to spend reconstructing data. It requires a second
high powered computer to pull the info off that drive once you type
"a:\format c:" Just use a Win98 boot floppy, if you need one get it
he www.bootdisk.com


As for Microsoft Licensing, well, I think you can look the other way
on that. If you are really worried about staying "honest" go with
Linux. Instead of MS Office 97 though you might conside Open Office.
In many ways it is similar to MS Office, it can read and write DOC and
XLS files, is a smaller program size than Office, and is faster and
more secure than Office 97


Re the other computers, which I'll probably postpone till January, the
Yeti's assumption about the school families is correct. The students are all
below grade level and 90% of the parents don't speak English (or play
solitaire). They'll mainly play games, use word processing, internet,
keyboarding, ... and hopefully build skills for future success.
Nan

PS: I don't know their model # but they were Dimensions, PII, one 266 one
300, purchased June 1998. I have service tag #s but that prob doesn't matter
at this date. Then the next two I'll work on are not Dells, but built by a
former local shop and a computer show regular -- both started out with Win
95c then upgraded to 98se.

"Christopher Muto" wrote in message
...
the process is arduous and time consuming when done from scratch, but some
model dells have a factory software 'image' embedded on the drive. on
those
systems you simply boot to a dos prompt and type 'zztop' and the system
restores itself to the original factory fresh condition (destroying
existing
data on the system). once done a simple wipe program can be run to ensure
erasure of remnants of data stored from parts of the hard marked as
'unused' (but had once been used). bcwipe an easy utility that has a free
30
day trial to do just this. it is available from tucows.com.
alternatively,
you could just remove the hard disk from the computer and physically
destroy
it and donate the rest of the system for someone else to rebuild (software
wise) with a new hard disk.

if you want install instructions to rebuild from scratch then tell us what
operating system you want to reinstall... and what model computer that you
want to do it on...

"Whelan" wrote in message
...
We recently purchased new computers for our office and we'd like to
clean
and sanitize the two old Dells (P-II, 266 and 300) to give to employees
whose families don't have one. Also, I work at an impoverished
elementary
school and want to give two old home computers to students too.

Should I go the thorough method and reformat the hard drive, then
re-install
Win 98se, Microsoft Office, etc rather than just erase the excess
programs
and defrag?

I did reformat 2 computers 1½ years ago, but don't exactly remember how.
I found this article today,


http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1
and it sounds a bit intimidating.

I bet there are a lot of people with old computers to give away; I could
probably round up 5-10 more at my school.
I'd like to get two ready this week so they can be used for Christmas
gifts.

Does anyone know of simpler instructions or have advice?
Nan

Thanks, Yeti.
That's the encouragement I need to proceed.
I'll download the bootdisk now and go for it today or tonight!
Nan

"the yeti" wrote in message
om...
"Whelan" wrote in message
...


I want to put Win 98se on it now; I think that would be better than Me.
(It's what I use at work; I run the computer lab in a K-6 school with 28
workstations.) Then I will reinstall the MS Office 97 that came on it,
plus
some Educ programs (I bought everything avail in the mid-90s and know
some
very good shareware) and some useful utilities. The employee we are
giving
this to has a daughter 13 and sons 8 & 9. They have never owned a
computer,
but she is clever so I want to be sure the Quickbooks can't be found.

* If reformatting and switching the OS from Me to 98 (only this one
computer
has Me), should I make/use a 98 or Me bootdisk?

* The Eraser, PCInspector, BCWipe programs, ... are these things you
would
do INSTEAD OF reformatting C, before, or just additional precautions
after
reformatting?

* So, this first one was a small bus computer with financial info and it
will go to someone inexperienced but smart.


Thoes programs are additional things that you do along with format.
You still have to format the drive. Win98SE is way better than WinME,
stick with that. I understand your buisness need to erase your drive,
but I am telling you that you can format it with no need for a "data
destruction" program. As a PC tech and from IRC Chat rooms I can't
tell you how many times I've heard "I erased an important
song/picture/document and I cant get it back" And thats from inside a
running Windows OS. After you format the drive, your quick books
will be gone and no one will be able to access it with out special
tools, and hours to spend reconstructing data. It requires a second
high powered computer to pull the info off that drive once you type
"a:\format c:" Just use a Win98 boot floppy, if you need one get it
he www.bootdisk.com


As for Microsoft Licensing, well, I think you can look the other way
on that. If you are really worried about staying "honest" go with
Linux. Instead of MS Office 97 though you might conside Open Office.
In many ways it is similar to MS Office, it can read and write DOC and
XLS files, is a smaller program size than Office, and is faster and
more secure than Office 97


Re the other computers, which I'll probably postpone till January, the
Yeti's assumption about the school families is correct. The students are
all
below grade level and 90% of the parents don't speak English (or play
solitaire). They'll mainly play games, use word processing, internet,
keyboarding, ... and hopefully build skills for future success.
Nan

PS: I don't know their model # but they were Dimensions, PII, one 266
one
300, purchased June 1998. I have service tag #s but that prob doesn't
matter
at this date. Then the next two I'll work on are not Dells, but built by
a
former local shop and a computer show regular -- both started out with
Win
95c then upgraded to 98se.

"Christopher Muto" wrote in message
...
the process is arduous and time consuming when done from scratch, but
some
model dells have a factory software 'image' embedded on the drive. on
those
systems you simply boot to a dos prompt and type 'zztop' and the
system
restores itself to the original factory fresh condition (destroying
existing
data on the system). once done a simple wipe program can be run to
ensure
erasure of remnants of data stored from parts of the hard marked as
'unused' (but had once been used). bcwipe an easy utility that has a
free
30
day trial to do just this. it is available from tucows.com.
alternatively,
you could just remove the hard disk from the computer and physically
destroy
it and donate the rest of the system for someone else to rebuild
(software
wise) with a new hard disk.

if you want install instructions to rebuild from scratch then tell us
what
operating system you want to reinstall... and what model computer that
you
want to do it on...

"Whelan" wrote in message
...
We recently purchased new computers for our office and we'd like to
clean
and sanitize the two old Dells (P-II, 266 and 300) to give to
employees
whose families don't have one. Also, I work at an impoverished
elementary
school and want to give two old home computers to students too.

Should I go the thorough method and reformat the hard drive, then
re-install
Win 98se, Microsoft Office, etc rather than just erase the excess
programs
and defrag?

I did reformat 2 computers 1½ years ago, but don't exactly remember
how.
I found this article today,



http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1
and it sounds a bit intimidating.

I bet there are a lot of people with old computers to give away; I
could
probably round up 5-10 more at my school.
I'd like to get two ready this week so they can be used for
Christmas
gifts.

Does anyone know of simpler instructions or have advice?
Nan