Hi Folks-
I just handed down my Dell Computer to my son and I am looking to sell his Compaq Presario 4540. It works perfectly and there is a nice monitor, printer and scanner to go with it. It is mid 90's technology, with a AMD K6 266Mz Processor, running Windows 95, so I am not asking much for the bundle. I have a concern about selling the CPU because of all the stories you hear about information being permanently stored within the computer. Since the computer was mine, before I gave it to my son, there was quite a bit of information that could have been stored in the PC. I took the System Restore Disk and I ran the utility that claims to put the computer back to the factory settings. It also claims that all files, programs, software, and hardware drivers, installed by me, would be lost. I ran the utility and it appears, on the surface, to have accomplished what I intended. I looked everywhere that I could think of, and couldn't find anything that I had added. I right mouse clicked on start and went to explore, and also typed in "regedit" in the run box and couldn't find anything in the expanded tree of the registry. I need to know, with absolute certainty, that I can get all personal info and history out of this PC, before I sell it. If there is any doubt, I will just sell the peripherals and smash the heck out of the CPU. Please let me know if what I have done is adequate, or if there is something else I need to do. If there is absolutely no way of getting it all out, please let me know that as well, so I can dispose of the CPU. Thank you so much for your help.
Sunyb36
I just handed down my Dell Computer to my son and I am looking to sell his Compaq Presario 4540. It works perfectly and there is a nice monitor, printer and scanner to go with it. It is mid 90's technology, with a AMD K6 266Mz Processor, running Windows 95, so I am not asking much for the bundle. I have a concern about selling the CPU because of all the stories you hear about information being permanently stored within the computer. Since the computer was mine, before I gave it to my son, there was quite a bit of information that could have been stored in the PC. I took the System Restore Disk and I ran the utility that claims to put the computer back to the factory settings. It also claims that all files, programs, software, and hardware drivers, installed by me, would be lost. I ran the utility and it appears, on the surface, to have accomplished what I intended. I looked everywhere that I could think of, and couldn't find anything that I had added. I right mouse clicked on start and went to explore, and also typed in "regedit" in the run box and couldn't find anything in the expanded tree of the registry. I need to know, with absolute certainty, that I can get all personal info and history out of this PC, before I sell it. If there is any doubt, I will just sell the peripherals and smash the heck out of the CPU. Please let me know if what I have done is adequate, or if there is something else I need to do. If there is absolutely no way of getting it all out, please let me know that as well, so I can dispose of the CPU. Thank you so much for your help.
Sunyb36
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