Wipe all old files

Before you lend or dispose of your computer, or get it serviced, make sure there's no private information left on it.

To protect yourself:

• At the very least DELETE all the files that you don't want others to see, empty all the temporary directories, and then empty the recycling/trash bin

• OR reformat the hard disk - note that this will also remove the operating system and application software

• Unfortunately, both these methods only modify the file cataloguing system, they don't overwrite the files - many computer buffs could still recover the information. So for maximum protection, remove or wipe the hard drive using a disk cleaning utility. The most thorough cleaning utilities are those which overwrite every location on the disk. Those which only overwrite sectors of the disk not used by files are less thorough but should be sufficient if you delete all your private files first

• Wipe or destroy CD or floppy disks and other information storage tools, before you dispose of them or pass them on. The "MS Format" function can be used for floppy disks. Quick Format is not suitable.