I want to take my old HP Paviliion HP zv6000 laptop to a recycling event soon. How do I wipe all my data from it. Should I reformat the HD. How do I do this?
Re: Recycling old HP pavilion XP laptop--reformat?
Hi joangolfing,
Download a good hard drive erasure program called "DBAN". I use this program and it's a really good hard drive erasure. Run the long pass which will take a long while, about 12 - 14hrs or so. I believe with the long pass, the program goes over your hard drive like 7x times.
Make sure to back up any important data you have on that computer onto your external hard drive or USB flash drive. If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask, thank you.
Re: Recycling old HP pavilion XP laptop--reformat?
Hi joangolfing,
Yes, put the iso file onto a CD. Use a good program called "ImgBurn" (The Official ImgBurn Website) to put the iso file onto a CD.
Then, once this is finished, boot the computer to the DBAN CD. Follow the on-screen prompts and run the DBAN erasure program. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Re: Recycling old HP pavilion XP laptop--reformat?
I used Image Burn to put that DBan iso on a CD. I can't get it to do anything when I start the computer with this CD my laptop starts with the Windows XP screen. There must be an easier process.
Re: Recycling old HP pavilion XP laptop--reformat?
Boot into Setup (Bios) go to Boot Priority using your Enter and Arrow key move the CD drive to First Boot Device.Save and Exit, you can also press F12 at bootup to change the CD for a one time boot.
Re: Recycling old HP pavilion XP laptop--reformat?
When you first start your computer, you will see a quick message over the HP logo, saying press (key) to enter Setup. In older HP laptops this was the F2 key, newer ones use the F10 key, or possibly the F1 key
Re: Recycling old HP pavilion XP laptop--reformat?
Is there a different program someone can recommend that I use that doesn't require this action of changing the BIOS. I have started and restarted my HP more than 10 times keeping on trying to get the set up to save and boot as you recommended with no success.
Re: Recycling old HP pavilion XP laptop--reformat?
this recycling event does the laptop have to have the hard drive in it? if not you could take it out and get an encloser and use it as an external drive.
Re: Recycling old HP pavilion XP laptop--reformat?
I tried one more time and got it working. Thanks for your patience. My mistake was highlighting the CD drive on the list and saving it but not understanding that the order needed to change. I then moved it to the TOP of the list and then I started DBAN. A great program. I now can give my laptop to the recycling drive and not worry about anything being on it.
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