Solved Need help prepping PC for sale

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by kgwinn, Aug 8, 2012.

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  1. kgwinn Bronze Member

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    I have an older Lenovo ThinkPad that I got from a previous employer in 2008 that I need to sell quickly. It runs XP Professional and I never got copies of the setup disk. I need to wipe all my personal data before selling it, but I can't figure out the best way to do that and keep the OS intact. Even though no one really wants XP Pro anymore, I assume that selling it with the OS completely wiped will limit the number of people willing to buy it. I was hoping to just do a clean install of XP, but without the disk it's damn near impossible. I tried reinstalling XP from the WINNT32.exe file, but its telling me the product key (found on a sticker on the back) is invalid. I've looked at a couple of programs for wiping data, but I haven't found anything that can guarantee that my OS remains intact while all my personal junk gets zapped. Also, if I could find something free, that would be better since I'm broke.

    Please tell me I'm missing an easy solution. I need to sell this thing in the next 48 hours if possible.

    kgwinn, Aug 8, 2012
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  2. Crush Administrator & Security Team Leader

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    Hi,

    Welcome to the site. Wiping the drive completely and keeping personal data intact isn't possible. Especially if you're reselling this machine.

    You could call up Microsoft and get help with authentication of the OS from them
    Crush, Aug 8, 2012
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  3. driver_ian PCHF SMR Graduate.

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    My welcome also, you could try this although it'll be a fairly long drawnout process.
    Download FileShredder from here and shred all your personal files/folders, then once you're done shredding the rest using the 'shred free space' option.

    I'm not going to say it'll completely irradicate your personal stuff but it's going to make it a damned site harder to retrieve as this program overwrites your selected files with O's and X's
    driver_ian, Aug 8, 2012
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  5. DCiAdmin Administrator & Tech Team Leader

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    The reason that you didn't receive original OS disks with the Lenovo is because it has a built-in Factory Recovery partition. Please see this from a Lenovo "How To" site....

    MUCH easier than attempting to selectively wipe your data :)
    DCiAdmin, Aug 8, 2012
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  6. kgwinn Bronze Member

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    Well this seems like a perfect solution, except it doesn't work. When I start up the computer, I don't get the option for the F11 Recovery Partition option. The only option I get is the ThinkVantage one, but when you get into the ThinkVantage system, it doesn't give me recovery as an option. There's a link for "Security, Protection, and Recovery" but when I click on it, the only drop down I get is "Protect My Computer". Now what?
    kgwinn, Aug 9, 2012
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  7. Malnutrition Moderator

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    How about just deleting all of your personal files with the program that Driver_Ian suggested, then clearing all of your restore points.
    Malnutrition, Aug 9, 2012
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  8. DCiAdmin Administrator & Tech Team Leader

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    I would have say then that what you have is essentially "a brick". If you don't have the Operating System to reinstall OR are unable to access a Factory Recovery Partition, you haven't got anything worth selling.

    Malnutrition is right - you might return to the idea of using the software proposed by Driver_Ian. Or just keep the laptop as the sales value isn't much. Windows XP laptops are only worth about $75.00
    DCiAdmin, Aug 9, 2012
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  9. kgwinn Bronze Member

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    I'm confused as to why this makes it a brick. Everything still functions, the computer acts just like it always did. I can only assume my employer did something hinky to it to keep people from undoing whatever they added. I realize it's not worth much, but I'm an unemployed grad student out of money and 3 weeks from my next financial aid check. $75 is honestly the difference between eating and not.

    I can certainly try the file shredder option, I was just hoping for something quicker.
    kgwinn, Aug 9, 2012
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  10. DCiAdmin Administrator & Tech Team Leader

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    If you end up formatting and attempting to sell the system with NO Operating System, there is little value in it - essentially "a brick".

    Considering your situation, the suggestion to try File Shredder is a good one.
    DCiAdmin, Aug 9, 2012
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  11. Malnutrition Moderator

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    I just had a thought how about creating a new profile and deleting yours.When you do this the process will ask if you want to delete or keep the users files select delete.Then reboot log into the new user and search around for anything that you recognize if you find nothing then delete your restore points.
    Malnutrition, Aug 9, 2012
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  12. kgwinn Bronze Member

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    Well that seems to have eliminated everything, and there are no restore points. Can the profile be recovered or is it gone for good?
    kgwinn, Aug 9, 2012
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  13. Malnutrition Moderator

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    Lets see something please.

    Please download MINITOOLBOX and run it.

    Checkmark following boxes:

    List restore points



    Click Go and Attach the result.

    If the program list restore points.Then clear all of your restore points and create a new one you can do this by turning off system restore and rebooting and turning it back on and rebooting again.
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405
    Malnutrition, Aug 9, 2012
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  14. kgwinn Bronze Member

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    Looks like everything listed here is after I deleted my user profile yesterday, so that should be ok, right?

    MiniToolBox by Farbar Version: 23-07-2012
    Ran by Admin (administrator) on 09-08-2012 at 08:43:24
    Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (X86)
    Boot Mode: Normal
    ***************************************************************************
    ========================= Restore Points ==================================

    08-08-2012 17:12:01 Software Distribution Service 3.0
    09-08-2012 01:23:53 Software Distribution Service 3.0
    09-08-2012 02:48:55 Software Distribution Service 3.0
    09-08-2012 15:40:56 Printer Driver Microsoft XPS Document Writer Installed

    **** End of log ****
    kgwinn, Aug 9, 2012
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  15. Malnutrition Moderator

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    Malnutrition, Aug 10, 2012
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  16. kgwinn Bronze Member

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    Thanks for all your help,everybody. Those were definitely after I deleted my profile, so I should be good. Also, I sold the computer locally today for $100 to a guy who teaches basic computer skills classes to little kids. I feel pretty confident that even if anything were lurking and waiting to be restored, the laptop isn't exactly going to be in the hands of top hackers. Just average 5 year olds.
    kgwinn, Aug 10, 2012
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Need help prepping PC for sale

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