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Omaria needing more help

#Post
1

Hello again, as we are moving and I want to get rid of my big pc which is a windows XP. My daughter has tried to help me clear everything out and make it ready to give away. There is one thread with pictures that won’t delete at all. Question is how do we wipe everything! It just goes back and reset. Nothing in there I need it’s all saved. HELP,can I just take a hammer to it?

Edited by omaria at 3:59 pm, Wed 14 Apr

omaria - 2021-04-14 15:57:00
2

Are the pictures in a folder? What is a thread?

tygertung - 2021-04-14 16:14:00
3

I have had stuck folders before that won't delete until I do a restart.

muppet_slayer - 2021-04-14 16:15:00
4

easiest way to delete *everything* including all the stuff you might have forgotten about, saved passwords etc is to create a new user profile... and delete the original...

go to the control panel, look for user accounts or similar...
1: create a new user profile with a different name and as an administrator
2: Sign out of current user profile, log into new user profile
3: in the user accounts, remove the original user profile - delete data or save to desktop and backup etc...

note though someone with appropriate skill set could use data recovery tools to recover some or all the data... There are freespace wiping tools for this purpose if there is sensitive info deleted...

Edited by king1 at 4:26 pm, Wed 14 Apr

king1 - 2021-04-14 16:23:00
5

I don't think you will find anyone who wants an XP computer. Far to old to be useful, far to new to be vintage. Best thing would be to take it to a computer recycler. The SHOULD make sure that nothing can be recovered from it. To safely remove everything from the computer you need to do a wipe of the hard drive. Google zero fill hard drive for more details. Anything you delete can easily be recovered by undelete apps

duncb - 2021-04-14 17:38:00
6

Easiest way is to remove the hard drive from the computer box and then smash the drive with an axe or hammer.

It's quite simple really.

Or get a friend to run it over with a bulldozer.

nice_lady - 2021-04-14 17:50:00
7

To REALLY remove everything you did a program to zero the hard disk itself.
Why worry about it, no-one cares.
Take the drive out if you must and dump the rest of it.

lythande1 - 2021-04-14 19:01:00
8

How do I take the drive out?

omaria - 2021-04-14 20:45:00
9

Cut my hard drive into bits with the big cut off wheel i cut water pipe with. Pretty tough those old hard drives.Got some magnets out of one too & man are they strong or what!!. Clicked then onto the side of my steel cabinet in the shed & have to be careful removing it to show someone its strength then be careful sitting it back there or it'll have ya--trap fingers etc.

yz490 - 2021-04-14 20:49:00
10

Look around the outside of the box. There will be some small screws. Undo them.
The drive will be inside. It looks like this:

https://trademe.tmcdn.co.nz/photoserver/1024sq/1521922567.jp
g

Just hammer a few nails thru it or smash it up at best you can.

Edited by nice_lady at 8:52 pm, Wed 14 Apr

nice_lady - 2021-04-14 20:51:00
11

If you (or family/friend) are on Facebook, there's a NZ Vintage Computing Group and they are really friendly. Try posting it there on offer, you may find someone willing to pick it up, (and make good use of the parts), and they will quite possibly even remove the Hard Drive for you. https://www.facebook.com/groups/nzvintagecomputing/about

Edited by cookee_nz at 8:53 pm, Wed 14 Apr

cookee_nz - 2021-04-14 20:53:00
12
omaria wrote:

How do I take the drive out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCPQtrnsjmE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUveWh-Qgqg

muppet_slayer - 2021-04-14 21:02:00
13

awesome, thanks :)

omaria - 2021-04-14 23:30:00
14

I would not advise smashing a useful hard drive. It should just be formatted, and if one is really worried about sensitive information, refilled again.

tygertung - 2021-04-15 08:03:00
15

Useful ? Xp vintage ? Probably substantially smaller than many/most modern usb keys

nice_lady - 2021-04-15 08:39:00
16

Not to mention there's a good chance it's an IDE interface. Not useful much really.

nice_lady - 2021-04-15 08:52:00
17
tygertung wrote:

Are the pictures in a folder? What is a thread?

I guess its what you call a folder LOL excuse my ignorance

omaria - 2021-04-15 13:25:00
18

See if that works?

https://www.softwarepatch.com/howto-delete-xp/

Or you could reinstall XP if you have the disc, or make a Linux boot disc, or do it on USB. Lubuntu 18.04 should be fine for an XP machine.

IDE drives are not useless because you probably can't get them new anymore and are still used in certain applications.

tygertung - 2021-04-15 15:57:00
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