I want to know if my old computer is safe to drop it off at the recycling center. It is a Dell, probably 6 or more years old. I tried to wipe the hard drive and re-install Windows XP in the hopes of speeding it up. I ended up just replacing it with a new computer. Now I want to get rid of the old one but I want to be sure that all personal information has indeed been wiped out. Windows xp appears when I turn on the computer, but it looks different than it did before and I'm not able to access the internet. I checked the "properties" of the C drive and it shows that there is 25.53GB of free space - the used space is 2.38GB. I'm assuming that Windows XP would need that amount of space (this would be the Windows XP that came with the computer - probably none of the service packs). Am I correct? Does this mean that all other files have been wiped off?