What to Do Before Selling Your Computer

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Your computer has served you well over the years. You’ve been through a lot together, including three jobs and a college degree. Now it’s time for you to sell the machine.

You’ve been meaning to upgrade for a while, and the money you get by selling your computer will help you do it. The question is, what do you do to the device before you put it up on LetGo.

Can’t you pop it in a box and give it away as is? You can if you’re okay with a stranger having access to all of your personal information. Check out this guide to learn how to wipe your PC clean inside and out.

Save Your Important Files

You have a lot of important files sitting on your laptop. It’s where you keep all the cute videos of your dog and your resume. You don’t want to lose any of it.

That means you’re going to have to move the data over before you sell a computer. There are two ways you can go about it. You can buy an external hard drive and store everything there until you get a new PC.

The problem is if you misplace the hard drive, you lose all your precious photos and videos. If you’re worried about that, you can back everything up digitally to the cloud.

Wipe the Hard Drive

Just because you get rid of your data doesn’t mean that it’s gone. It still exists deep within the old computer’s hard drive. A hacker that’s dedicated enough can and will pull the files from it.

There’s specialized software that you can use for hard drive erasure before you sell your old computer. You can also turn on drive encryption, and don’t forget to delete your web browser history.

Deauthorize the Software

There are some programs that will allow you to own a copy of them on a certain number of devices. They come with licenses that you’ll have to transfer over to your new machine.

Before you can download them, you’ll have to deauthorize them on the previous one. The process only takes a few minutes.

Clean the Machine

Don’t end the clean-up process with the inside of the machine. You’ve got to scrub down the outside of it as well. If you own a laptop, shut it off and turn it upside down to remove the crumbs from the keyboard.

Pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol onto a cotton ball and run it gently along the outside of the computer. If your laptop is missing any keys, be sure to replace them. Use a soft cloth to remove your fingerprints from the screen.

Steps to Take Before Selling Your Computer 

Are you still thinking about selling your computer? As you can see, you’ll have to clean it inside and out first.

If you leave even the slightest spec of data behind, a hacker will be able to get in and steal your information. That’s the last thing that you need!

For more tips that will help you prepare a computer for sale, visit the technology section of our blog.