Questions: 1. What is the exact model? 2. Does it have an OS on it? Which one? 3. Does it boot? 4. Does it have a CD-ROM drive? If not, do you have an external CD-ROM drive? 5. Do you have a USB flash drive? 6. Is this for personal use, vs. business?
Reason for the questions: 1. Some computers have a drive erase function built into the BIOS. For example, an HP Zbook had it, but the ThinkPad I'm using does not 2. Some versions of Windows have an erase-everything function built in. 3 - 5. Determines options for erasing by booting from something. 6. Some software is only free for personal use. I used to use Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN), https://dban.org/ But now it is only for personal use Last erase I've done is via BIOS and via Windows 10. Oh, and I pulled one drive, put it in an enclosure, hooked it up to another computer and erased. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of willie bunter Sent: Friday, November 1, 2024 12:57 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: OFF TOPIC - DELETING ALL FILES SOFTWARE FROM A LAPTOP Good Day To All, Can anybody suggest how I can delete all the files, software etc. from an old laptop before I scrap it? The laptop in question is a DELL VISTA. I asked the experts at DELL but they couldn't tell me because of a lack of documentation. Thanks. Willie ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
