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Cyril Dorricott

2 Posts

12556

October 19th, 2013 06:00

Preparing XPS laptop for sale

Hello I hope you can help me. Or rather reassure me I'm not about to make a big mistake!

I'm about to sell my old Dell XPS 15 laptop and obviously want to ensure there is no sensitive data left on my machine. Am I right in thinking that merely returning the machine to factory setting will not suffice and I should go a bit further?

I still have a DVD called "Operating System Reinstallation DVD" as well as the disc with all the original drivers on.  Am I able to "nuke" the hard drive with a program called Eraser or Darik's Boot And Nuke and reinstall Windows 7  and  the correct drivers from those discs?  

Hope I've explained my query OK!

Thanks in advance for any assistance

DELL-Ravi Ch

7 Technologist

 • 

7.1K Posts

October 19th, 2013 07:00

Hi Cyril Dorricott,

Restoring the system to factory state will erase all your personal data. Please follow the steps mentioned below for performing the pc restore on a Windows 7 computer.

  1. Back up all the data from the computer before proceeding to next steps.
  2. Unplug all the devices including your printer, camera and memory stick.
  3. Restart the computer.
  4. Press the "F8" key repeatedly as soon as you see the Dell logo. Do not stop until you see the Advanced Boot Options screen.
  5. Press the down arrow and choose "Repair your computer." Hit "Enter."
  6. Select the keyboard layout "US" from the drop-down menu and click "OK."
  7. Log into your account as an administrator. Type in your password. Click "OK."
  8. Click "Dell Factory Image Restore" at the bottom of the options.
  9. Click "Next" in the window that opens.
  10. Click to check the box next to "Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition" to confirm and click "Next." This will generate an operation that will take about 45 minutes to complete. Click "Finish" when the process is complete to restart your computer.

Please let me know if this helps.

ejn63

9 Legend

 • 

87.5K Posts

October 19th, 2013 08:00

Easier way:  restore the system to factory condition and use Windows to wipe all the free space on the drive.  You can do this without any additional utilities.

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,3253,l=255105&a=255105&po=8,00.asp

Philip_Yip

7 Technologist

 • 

16K Posts

October 20th, 2013 07:00

You may also see Windows Reinstallation Guide/A Clean Install of Windows:

http://philipyip.wordpress.com/dell-community-forums/ 

This will instruct you through the use of DBAN and through a clean install.

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