I'm planning to sell my PC, and I'm really not sure what steps I should take. Do I need to unlink my accounts from platforms like Battle.net and Steam, or can I just sign out? Also, is it enough to do a factory reset, or are there other important things I should consider? Any advice on what I should do would be greatly appreciated since I'm pretty clueless about this!
7 Answers
SSDs can be trickier for data recovery, so it's still a good idea to perform at least a one-pass secure erase. Better safe than sorry!
It's a good idea to sign out of any services that limit device connections, but honestly, if you're wiping the storage, it may not be necessary. Just make sure to securely erase all storage you're selling with the PC. If your BIOS has a Secure Erase option, that’s the easiest route.
It's crucial to wipe all your storage drives completely clean. Before you sell, you want to make sure there’s no trace of your personal data left behind.
If you're super paranoid, just remove the storage drives entirely. Keeps your data safe and ready to move to a new system later!
If you're using Windows Pro, consider enabling BitLocker to encrypt the drive first. Then, reformat and reinstall Windows. It adds an extra layer of protection against anyone recovering your data. Alternatively, just sell the PC without your old drive, or do a secure erase and then reinstall Windows.
Best bet? Wipe the PC entirely before you hand it off. You'll feel a lot better knowing your info isn't out there!
Definitely reinstall Windows without keeping any files. When you're at the account setup screen, just turn off the PC to prepare it for sale. Simple and effective!
True, as long as you wipe everything, signing out isn’t really needed since it clears browser data too.