I bought this Gateway 9300 used. How do I remove the last owner’s files safely? The computer has over 52,000 of them.
Used Computers and Data
It’s too bad that the computer’s original owner didn’t take care of this task before selling it to you. I don’t know about you, but I sure wouldn’t want someone else to have access to all of my files! Even if selling my computer to a trusted friend, I’d clean it up because you don’t know where the computer might end up once the friend is done with it.
Not only is privacy a concern, as you’ve found out, so is space. Why should you have to deal with a hard drive that’s jampacked with someone else’s files? Cleaning up the computer is definitely in order.
Computer Cleanup Choices
You have several choices available to you ranging from manually deleting files and using the Disk Cleanup wizard to completely reinstalling the operating system.
Manual File Deletion
While 52,000 files seem like a lot, you don’t necessarily have to delete each file individually. Depending on how the previous owner organized his files, it may be a simple matter of deleting a few folders. For example, let’s suppose that the previous owner created the following sub-folders in the My Documents folder:
- Work
- Financial
- Taxes
- Artwork
Let’s also suppose that each sub-folder has a series of sub-folders such as Clients, Invoices, and Marketing Campaign sub-folders in the Work sub-folder. You wouldn’t need to go in and delete each file individually. Rather, you’d simply delete the entire Work sub-folder and everything within it would also be deleted.
Using the Disk Cleanup Wizard
Once you’ve manually deleted the previous owner’s personal files, use the Disk Cleanup wizard to further cleanup the hard drive. Go to Start> Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Here you’ll be able to delete downloaded program files, temporary Internet files, offline Web pages, Recycle Bin files, temporary files, log files, and more. Surprisingly, these files add up to significant amounts of disk space.
Once deleted, click the More Options tab and choose the option for removing unwanted programs. Remove any program that you do not want on your computer including games, tax software, toolbars, and so on.
Reinstall the Operating System
If you have the original recovery CDs for the computer, you can bypass all of the proceeding steps and instead reset the computer to its factory condition. Reinstalling the operating system is fairly easy so long as you have the original recovery CDs and the computer has not been significantly upgraded. Using the recovery CD wipes the hard drive and puts the computer’s hard drive back to its factory condition. (Technically the data is still recoverable, but for your purposes, this is okay.) After using the recovery CD, you will need to update Windows and install a good antivirus/antispyware application.
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