I want to sell my computer and buy a new one, but before I do that I would like to wipe it clean before selling it since I have a lot of personal information on it like banking information, work documents, saved passwords, etc. I just want to make sure it’s completely gone with no traces of my personal information left behind. I don’t know much about computers so any advice with some steps on how to do this would be appreciated.
You are very smart for wanting to completely cleaning out that hard drive before getting rid of it. Get your copy of the Windows CD that came with your computer when you first bought it, usually it’s called a recovery CD. This will wipe out the hard drive and take it back to the state when you turned the computer on the very first time. So back up those important files before running this CD.
If you can’t find the original Windows disc that came with the computer there’s still hope, use Darik’s Boot and Nuke. This free tool will securely wipe out all the information on your hard drive and is highly recommended.
Another thing you can do is take out that old hard drive and put it in your new computer as a secondary drive or perhaps get an external usb hard drive case and use it as a back up drive. Or if you’re really paranoid take a sledge hammer and completely destroy it.