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How to delete everything but OS securely? (self.techsupport)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by ShunkW to c/techsupport

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I'm looking to sell my laptop. I've used stuff like DBAN before but that nukes the whole drive obviously. Is there any good way to leave the OS intact after a reset but also make sure that there's no recoverable data?

Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks!

Edit to add: I don't have the product key for the pre installed Windows 10 OS. Maybe there's a way to recover that and reinstall after a full wipe?

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[–] ShunkW 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I can install Linux on it, but considering this is a second hand market I'm not sure it would be super easy to sell that way ya know? I just really need money ATM. When I'm employed, I work in cyber security so I'm just paranoid about anything being recovered lol. Maybe I'm putting too much thought into it.

[–] j4k3 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Personally, I always plan on installing Linux. I'm going to wipe the device either way. Showing me that you've tested the thing with Fedora and that secure boot, and all the peripherals work already is a major plus for me. It saves me from doing the research and guesswork on the specific hardware. The second hand market is so iffy about giving enough info to do hardware research with stuff like Linux hardware probe.

I would install Fedora, then Linux hardware probe and do a scan, then attach that info. This would be worth more than most descriptions and likely generate more interest. If you sell W10 at this point, you're looking for someone gullible enough to buy something useless in just 4 months from now. With Fedora it is still a fully ownable machine with a long and bright future.

[–] ShunkW 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I understand where you're coming from, but again, I'm trying to sell this quickly through Facebook marketplace or the like. I don't think I'm gonna have a wide audience for people looking for a Linux based laptop that are local and offering cash.

[–] PlasticExistence 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

You're correct about that, and generally anyone interested in a Linux distro is going to know (and want!) to install it themselves anyway.