This is something I should know . . . but I don't.

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

I'd like to give my prior laptop to my daughter. I don't want to take it down to factory settings because there are programs I put on there that she would like to keep.

How do I just remove the user data?

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

I'm really surprised no answer to this. I thought this would be a easy one for you . . . but I guess I'm not alone in how to accomplish this!!

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

My chromebook has a place under settings where you can erase history.Just look under settings.

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

On 9/23/2014 happy housewife said:
My chromebook has a place under settings where you can erase history.Just look under settings.

This is an old laptop (seven years) but still runs great. I don't have chromebook on it, but I will look into the "help" feature instead of being lazy.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

My DH said he believes - but would not bet his life on it - that there are discs you can buy that clean out computers or you can go to a professional.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

You will have to reset back to factory setting to remove all data. I usually use this method 2X when I give away a computer. I then have to reinstall Window Updates. This can be a job.

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

On 9/22/2014 Ford1224 said:
I'd like to give my prior laptop to my daughter. I don't want to take it down to factory settings because there are programs I put on there that she would like to keep.

How do I just remove the user data?

Many older computers came with DVD's to install certain software programs. If your old laptop is one of them you can "uninstall the program" and reinstall it and that should remove all the data. If this is going to your daughter,deleting might be enough to satisfy you/her.

When I want to make sure there is no data on a computer I am selling or giving away I always do a complete install of the operating system, but that is certainly not something I would recommend for your purposes.

hckynut(john)

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

On 9/23/2014 hckynut said:
On 9/22/2014 Ford1224 said:
I'd like to give my prior laptop to my daughter. I don't want to take it down to factory settings because there are programs I put on there that she would like to keep.

How do I just remove the user data?

Many older computers came with DVD's to install certain software programs. If your old laptop is one of them you can "uninstall the program" and reinstall it and that should remove all the data. If this is going to your daughter,deleting might be enough to satisfy you/her.

When I want to make sure there is no data on a computer I am selling or giving away I always do a complete install of the operating system, but that is certainly not something I would recommend for your purposes.

I'll probably wind up going through program by program and deleting the documents/data, etc. that she doesn't want (and some I don't want her to see right now, LOL). She wants most of the photos, so I will just leave that one alone. I was never one to listen to music on a computer, so there's none of that there.

Actually I have nothing but time, so I can do this. I was just thinking there might be an easier way.

Thanks everyone!!

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

Lynnj · ‎03-21-2010

You could back up the entire computer to an external hard drive. Once you've confirmed you have everything on the external drive, on the computer take it back to factory settings. Then once you have the computer back up and running, plug the external hard drive in and transfer the things back that you say she wants to keep on there. This is the best of both worlds. You can erase the computer hard drive, but still provide the things you want her to have and not the things you don't want her to have.

Buck-i-Nana · ‎09-28-2010

What version of Windows? It's been a very long time for me regarding anything windows, but the newer versions of windows uses profiles doesn't it? You should be able to establish a new profile for your daughter and then delete your profile. That should remove your personal info and such. You will still probably have to manually delete the files from the documents folder.