How to securely wipe a drive before selling your laptop

But there may sometimes be drivers that need to be updated manually. Disconnect any external devices including USB printers and USB memory drives, but make sure the laptop is plugged into AC power. If your HP laptop won’t start properly or you can’t get to the Settings app, there is still a way to reset your computer. Most of the time, you should be able to reset the laptop using Windows Recovery mode, which is reached through Windows Safe Mode.

How to Securely Erase Your SSD via Your Motherboard

Get product-level pricing details and make pricing changes. Navigate product-level inventory details and get aggregated analytics. Possibly improve your performance by keeping up with customer messages and reviews. The display flips up to 360-degrees, so you can choose the perfect viewing angle.

To avoid data leakage, you must learn how to clear your laptop before selling or donating. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps to prepare for selling your desktop, laptop, or tablet without compromising your personal information, or giving away costly software. If you have a custom installation of Windows, you’ll have to perform a manual reset, and depending on the operating system the procedure will be different.

Make sure to wipe personal data before selling, trading in or regifting your gear. Although you’ve removed your account from the Chromebook, you haven’t removed the Chromebook from your account. Start by signing into your Google account and head to the Security settings. If you use the Chrome browser, you can also click on your account avatar and select Manage your Google Accountfrom the drop-down menu.

The actual data remains on the drive unless overwritten by other data or wiped with a specialized disk wipe utility that overwrites all the sectors on the drive with ones and zeros. The Printed Circuit Boards and other various computer components are not good for the environment. When you’re ready to trash your old PC, check with your local sanitation department for rules and regulations regarding electronics disposal.

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We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. Your Microsoft account keeps a list of all the recovery key IDs in case you need them. Click either “Keep my files” or “Remove everything” depending on which you prefer. The Troubleshoot option in Safe Mode lets you get to the reset settings. You can retain your files or wipe away everything during the reset. Plug in your laptop so you don’t run out of power during the reset.

If you do not wipe all the drive’s partitions, the files are kept and loaded back onto any “fresh” install of Windows. So the bloatware can come back even if you do a “factory” install. This is also a catch-22 scenario as if there are special drivers needed, they would also be inside that partition. Visit the manufacturer’s site for drivers and store them on the cloned drive or make sure that there is a driver CD available. Go into the install from a USB drive and erase all of the partitions and let Windows create a new set. However, these specification are enough to run the best PC games, though you may have to select the lowest graphic settings for some of the more demanding titles in order to play them properly. Most gamers will agree to that trade-off if they can get a gaming laptop for this cheap.

Read more about Sell laptop for cash here. This is a 2022 edition of the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptop, which as its name suggests, is designed with PC gamers in mind. However, it’s also highly capable of handling a wide range of general computing tasks. Although this is not the most current version of the popular and lightweight MacBook Air laptop, it does run the latest version of MacOS . Turn on the laptop and immediately press the F11 key repeatedly until System Recovery starts.