topic Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving in Electronics

Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

NikkiColo — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 20:22:58 GMT

Returning this as (to me) this is a clunky, cheap-feeling laptop and I cannot stand Windows 8. Question - is there a proper and safe way to erase anything that may be personal to me on the computer (ie Hotmail)? BF said he could erase the entire hard drive but I am not sure that is an OK thing to do. Any thoughts or suggestions? Many thanks.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

chickenbutt — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 00:59:50 GMT

Yeah, I don't think erasing the whole hard drive would be a good idea because the operating system is a chunk of the money you paid for the computer.

There are programs you can get, and probably even some free ones, that supposedly erase all your personal info and put it back to original. They are not infallible so if somebody knows what they are doing, they can still harvest info. Hopefully, it's not full of passwords, credit card numbers, etc.

Hopefully, GLB will come along. She knows a lot of valuable stuff in this area and others.

One word to the wise is that I would make sure I wanted to keep the computer before doing ANYTHING personal on it. Plus, if you install some of your own softwares you might end up losing the license that you paid for if you ditch the computer.

I'd also not purchase the next one from a shopping channel. You can get a lot more, and more current, for your money from numerous other sources.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

Nuttmeg — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 01:22:01 GMT

Restoring an HP to factory setting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSQEhYmz61M

Making Window 8.1 feel like Window 7 with Classic Shell. http://www.classicshell.net/

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

glb613 — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 01:44:48 GMT

I installed classic shell and really like it. Restoring to factory settings is easy. With my last HP computer, I could either do it using the recovery partition or the recovery discs I made. Press F11 during boot up or double click on the file you find in the "D" or recovery partition.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

bonnielu — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 01:54:15 GMT

I just ordered the latest HP that was the special value. I quickly changed my mind. I called and they said THEY WOULD TRY TO CANCEL IT. So far no luck. I might just keep it if it arrives. I will take all this great advice and make it behave like Windows 7. Hate 8.

I wonder what 10 will be like. I hear they are skipping 9. Could have gotten that wrong.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

NickNack — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 02:21:10 GMT

On 1/12/2015 bonnielu said:
I just ordered the latest HP that was the special value. I quickly changed my mind. I called and they said THEY WOULD TRY TO CANCEL IT. So far no luck. I might just keep it if it arrives. I will take all this great advice and make it behave like Windows 7. Hate 8.

I wonder what 10 will be like. I hear they are skipping 9. Could have gotten that wrong.

If you're home when it arrives, just refuse it. That way you won't have to pay the shipping to return it. I almost never return anything but did that once on an impulse buy I made with QVC.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

Lynnj — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 05:31:52 GMT

That's a good idea, nicknack. To the OP, I would restore back to factory settings and erase the hard drive in the process before sending it back. through the sign on process and in registering the computer you input personal information. I wouldn't want anyone else to have access to that. Since the erase and restore to factory settings is so easy, better safe than sorry is the way I see it.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

Buck-i-Nana — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 06:15:22 GMT

On 1/12/2015 bonnielu said:
I just ordered the latest HP that was the special value. I quickly changed my mind. I called and they said THEY WOULD TRY TO CANCEL IT. So far no luck. I might just keep it if it arrives. I will take all this great advice and make it behave like Windows 7. Hate 8.

I wonder what 10 will be like. I hear they are skipping 9. Could have gotten that wrong.

Good luck with that cancellation. I cancelled the next day and even though it sat in processing for 5 more days after my call, it shipped anyway. They will cover the return fee though.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

Buck-i-Nana — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 06:16:39 GMT

You could create another user account on the machine, give that account admin authority and then log in with the new account and delete your original account. That will remove any personal data you entered. Then, do the HP restore to factory settings.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

glb613 — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:38:04 GMT

You can also install CCleaner and wipe the free space after you delete all of your personal information and uninstall programs. It's found under tools and will overwrite the free space with 1s and 0s.

When you either delete or uninstall, the data is still there. The space it occupies is marked as free and can be overwritten or used again. Until it's overwritten and with the proper software, a person can get the data. When you wipe the drive or free space, that area is overwritten with 1s and 0s making it unreadable. So, if you format the drive and reinstall or wipe the drive/free space, your data is gone.

Using the recovery partition (most notebook computers don't have optical drives to use a disk) or the recovery data you put on a USB drive (which is what you do instead of making discs) should be fine for erasing your data. As posted, don't install a lot of personal "stuff" until you know you want to keep a computer.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

NikkiColo — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 21:27:05 GMT

Thank you for all your suggestions! Nutmeg, that YouTube video was great and did the trick. No more buying on line before trying in person something as important as a computer. Yep, big lesson learned ! It is on its way back today.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

Iambeezer — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 22:57:10 GMT

On 1/13/2015 glb613 said:
You can also install CCleaner and wipe the free space after you delete all of your personal information and uninstall programs. It's found under tools and will overwrite the free space with 1s and 0s.

When you either delete or uninstall, the data is still there. The space it occupies is marked as free and can be overwritten or used again. Until it's overwritten and with the proper software, a person can get the data. When you wipe the drive or free space, that area is overwritten with 1s and 0s making it unreadable. So, if you format the drive and reinstall or wipe the drive/free space, your data is gone.

Using the recovery partition (most notebook computers don't have optical drives to use a disk) or the recovery data you put on a USB drive (which is what you do instead of making discs) should be fine for erasing your data. As posted, don't install a lot of personal "stuff" until you know you want to keep a computer.

CCleaner is a joke. Me along with thousands of "legal" hackers with PhD's can easily get that info back. The only real safe way to destroy info is to blow it to pieces.

Re: Question on Returning HP TSV from Thanksgiving

glb613 — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 00:04:38 GMT

On 1/13/2015 WIlliam Joseph said:
On 1/13/2015 glb613 said:
You can also install CCleaner and wipe the free space after you delete all of your personal information and uninstall programs. It's found under tools and will overwrite the free space with 1s and 0s.

When you either delete or uninstall, the data is still there. The space it occupies is marked as free and can be overwritten or used again. Until it's overwritten and with the proper software, a person can get the data. When you wipe the drive or free space, that area is overwritten with 1s and 0s making it unreadable. So, if you format the drive and reinstall or wipe the drive/free space, your data is gone.

Using the recovery partition (most notebook computers don't have optical drives to use a disk) or the recovery data you put on a USB drive (which is what you do instead of making discs) should be fine for erasing your data. As posted, don't install a lot of personal "stuff" until you know you want to keep a computer.

CCleaner is a joke. Me along with thousands of "legal" hackers with PhD's can easily get that info back. The only real safe way to destroy info is to blow it to pieces.

You are always so nasty and poorly informed.