One for the IT bods

[mgp1969]

Am thinking of buying a new computer - advice as to what I should be looking for in terms of memory, make, model etc (i'm after another laptop) would be good - but my key concern is disposing of my current computer. I've done a lot of online banking, sharedealing, etc - will my personal details be stored on the hard drive/anywhere (I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to this stuff). Should I be concerned about identity theft? How can I guard against this? ie- how do I get rid of it without someone else getting hold of it and being able to access my banking details, etc?

Any advice welcome.

Thanks.

[omitchell]

mgp1969 said:

Am thinking of buying a new computer - advice as to what I should be looking for in terms of memory, make, model etc (i'm after another laptop) would be good - but my key concern is disposing of my current computer. I've done a lot of online banking, sharedealing, etc - will my personal details be stored on the hard drive/anywhere (I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to this stuff). Should I be concerned about identity theft? How can I guard against this? ie- how do I get rid of it without someone else getting hold of it and being able to access my banking details, etc? Any advice welcome. Thanks.

dells are pretty good for laptops, the inspiron line is the best, as per the hard drive the best course of action for it is an angle grinder to the hard drive to ensure complete security

[agent006]

will my personal details be stored on the hard drive/anywhere

Unlikely


Should I be concerned about identity theft?

Not really, unless your identity is particularly worth stealing.


How can I guard against this?

Short of taking the hard drive out and servicing it with special tool 10Lb, not a lot. A format and reinstall should baffle most people who are just casually looking for stuff.

[JonRB]

agent006 - I disagree. There will be information all over the place. ACL, Internet Explorer cache, document & settings, etc.

Simplest way is to format the entire HDD by using FDISK from a floppy disk (I can provide a link for creating one of these) and then sell the laptop as having no OS. If you're particularly paranoid you can do a secure wipe on it too.
If you have a recovery CD for the laptop then reinstalling the OS (ie. Windows) after you have wiped it will probably make the laptop slightly more saleable.

Edit: Apologies to agent006 - I see you mentioned a format & reinstall in your post.


>> Edited by JonRB on Monday 7th February 23:43

[moleamol]

And if you can format it from bios.

[agent006]

Yes, but i'm talking personal details such as your bank pin number, that sort of thing. Of course your address and email etc will be there, but they're not much use as you'd know these to get the PC in teh first place.

Deleting your windows profile is usually enough to get rid of things unless someone's really determined to steal your identity. If that's the case then you'd be much better off just keeping the old PC (and making sure your eyes and fingers are kept safe).

[mindgam3]

Depending on budget, if you just want a solid reliable workhorse, you can't go wrong with IBM. Sony are also quality pieces of kit but you get less for your money - they're more style/fashion orientated.

If you're looking for something a bit more personal, try savrow @ www.savrow.com - completely custom but fairly expensive.

With a limited budget, HP or Dell probably offer the best kit taking into consideration quality, spec and value

[sjg]

For the old PC, grab a copy of Autoclave from http://staff.washington.edu/jdlarios/autoclave/

Make up a boot floppy (just follow their instructions), boot from it then go away and do something more interesting while it overwrites everything on the disk several times.

[robertuk]

A program which will write zeros is a good idea.

Computer hard disk data are like Car Magazines .

When a newsagent opens up, the shelves are empty.
( new computer)

The shelves are then filled up.
(full hard disk)

When new magazines arrive the old mags are removed and replaced. The magazines are like data.

Wiping a hard disk just tells the computer that the shelves have no magazines.

But there are traces of data left, just like all the leaflets/inserts which line the shelves which have fallen from magazines.

Shame your not in London as I need an old laptop to do an experiment on - I might have purchased it
(without the hard disk)

**Laptop Spec**

As long as your not going to be doing video editing
or anything computationally intensive
(Scientfic calculations) you can get an average spec laptop. Most modern laptops far exceed what their 2yr old cousins could do.

Consider weight / battery power / location (where will you use it?)

Also many new laptops offer widescreen displays which are useful for multimedia and any use which requires multiple windows.

I think you could spend around £700+ V.A.T and get a decent machine from a reputable brand.

Ramesh


I've

Regards,

R

[ErnestM]

If you are really paranoid, just replace the hard drive with a new one and keep the old. Maybe attach to some sort of external USB gadget so you can import the data to your new one...


ErnestM

[jimothy]

Get a mac.

Dispose of your existing hard drive with a sledgehammer.

Easy.

[TeamD]

[redacted]

[dcb]

mindgam3 said:

If you're looking for something a bit more personal, try savrow @ www.savrow.com - completely custom but fairly expensive.

I had a look at this site, but gave up after five minutes.

Heavy on daft pictures, light on information.

Suggest www.dnuk.com instead - proper computers for the anorak.

[Jinx]

www.tolvanen.com/eraser/download.shtml

might be worth a try?

[agent006]

mindgam3 said:

www.savrow.com

Waht an awful awful website. Mightr be great products, but i can't find any info on them quickly.

Why do people insist on putting music on tehir websites. I'm eitehr:
a) at work and thus can do without music blaring
b) at home and already have my own music on.

GRRRR

[mindgam3]

agent006 said:

mindgam3 said: <a href="http://www.savrow.com">www.savrow.com</a> Waht an awful awful website. Mightr be great products, but i can't find any info on them quickly.

not that difficult to be honest

products -> laptops -> click on technical spec

or click on "customise your own system" to choose all your options and get a price, how hard can it be? :P

I bought a katana a few months ago and the customer service is top notch there. It's a small company based in Camden and i thoroughly recommened them if you're wanting to splash out a bit more on something that's a little more customised and more exclusive. Check out the live chat or forums for any extra info.

If you're just wanting to buy a standard laptop, IBM will be your best bet - quality and reliability throughout

[mgp1969]

Thanks for the advice, guys, was thinking of disposing of it, rather than selling it (didn't think they'd be much of market with the price of new ones). If I can wipe any bank details, etc that may be on there, suppose I could sell it, but I don't need to/hadn't factored this in, so sounds like may be better to keep hold of it to be on the safe side.

Incidentally, as a follow up to what ErnestM (I think) said - how do I go about moving the data to a new laptop - just plug into the USB port download and then upload to the new machine?

Thanks again.