Summary: This blog explores the three crucial things you need to consider before selling or exchanging your old laptop. These considerations are important to ensure that the data remains with you after you part ways with the laptop, the data stored on the laptop is secure from unwanted exposure, and you get the best resale value. We also introduce you to Stellar File Eraser, a DIY file erasure software, designed to permanently wipe the sensitive but unwanted data from a laptop or desktop PC. The tool ensures that your data is protected from theft or misuse when you sell or exchange the laptop.
Contents
Selling or exchanging your used laptop is not a straightforward transaction as the system might contain a lot of personal information. So, before giving away your laptop, you need to ensure the following:
- You retain the personal information you had stored on the laptop
- No one else should be able to gain access to the data stored on the laptop
- Your laptop should fetch the best resale value
This blog helps you meet these important things before you sell or exchange a used laptop. Here we go:
1. Take a thorough backup of the data
You should take a regular back up of the data stored on your system, but this becomes even more important if you are selling or exchanging an old laptop. Consider the scenarios where your laptop gets damaged due to accidental spillage of water, virus attack, hardware failure, etc. Without the backup, you may lose your valuable data, which can cause you a lot of distress. An up-to-date backup copy can protect you from such distress.
You can manually back up the data in an external hard drive or use the Windows Backup and Restore utility to create a copy of the existing data. Another approach is to back up the data on cloud storage such as Microsoft One Drive, which allows storing up to 5GB data, free of charge. For additional storage, you need to purchase a premium plan. You can also explore other cloud storage options, such as Dropbox.
2. Wipe or erase the data from your laptop
As mentioned earlier, your laptop might contain sensitive information, such as personal photos, videos, identity documents, financial documents, etc. So, permanently erase the contents of your laptop before you decide to sell or exchange the system.
Many people opt for formatting the drive, believing that formatting permanently removes the data from the hard drive. The fact is that formatting is a method to prepare a storage media for fresh use; it does not remove the contents. Anyone can use a data recovery software or method and potentially recover the formatted data from the laptop.
Consider the scenario. You format your laptop and then sell it to an unknown person on the Internet. This person then runs a data recovery software and gains access to all your personal, financial, and professional details stored on the laptop. This situation can make you a victim of financial fraud, misattribution, identity theft, harassment, etc.
So, you must be wondering how to permanently delete the data from your laptop, so that no one can recover it?
Use a File Erasure software to wipe your data beyond the scope of recovery and ensure total peace of mind. Here?s how.
File erasure software overwrites the existing data once or multiple times using advanced standards & techniques, ensuring that no data recovery tool or method can recover the wiped data.
For example, Stellar File Eraser is a trusted D-I-Y file erasure tool that permanently erases any type of files or folders from laptop, desktop, USB hard drive, etc.
Stellar File Eraser wipes the unused space on your laptop, ensuring that your previously deleted files are also erased, beyond the threats of extraction or theft. The tool lets you sell or exchange your laptop with total peace of mind.
3. Keep your laptop in a presentable & fully functional state
Now that you have backed-up all the important data on secondary storage like a hard drive or cloud and wiped your laptop, the next step is to ensure that your laptop looks spick-and-span from the outside. This step involves gently cleaning the laptop to remove the dirt or grime and replacing any missing or faulty components such as the keys, USB port, battery, adapter, etc. Before you start the cleaning procedure, ensure that your laptop is powered off. Also, you should only use the prescribed methods and materials to clean the laptop. Having a fully functional device in a presentable condition can fetch you more bucks than you expect!
Conclusion
In this blog, we discussed the step-by-step guidelines you need to follow before selling or exchanging your laptop. These steps are essential as they safeguard the privacy of your data and also ensure that you always have access to your data.
We also explored Stellar File Eraser, a secure and DIY file erasure software, designed to permanently erase the data stored on your laptop or external hard drive. The tool is a must-have utility to ensure the permanent removal of data and protect you against data theft and misuse when you sell a used laptop or other devices.
