Getting Rid of Sony Vaio

[gemz4the1]

If you are getting a new laptop and giving your old one to a family member or friend, would you completely restore it to factory settings or would you just remove your data from it?

Ideally I would like to restore it, but I am a bit wary about restoring it as I haven't restored a computer/laptop in quite a while so I am worried about breaking it.  Also, I am unsure if Windows 8.1 has the factory settings in a partition of its memory or if a restore disc is needed.

[Anonymous]

Just removing your info and saved data from the different folders should be enough.

Also log out any passwords and clean your caches and history's

A good piece of free software I use is CCleaner.

To restore the laptop would also entail downloading the drivers again too. It's a pain.

[gemz4the1]

Obviously if it was going to a stranger i'd be wary of just deleting my data as you never know what they would do with the laptop (they could somehow get the data back).

[sheepdog]

Best solution is to remove the hard drive and let the receiver deal with getting a new drive. You can then keep the drive in a usb caddy without worrying about the data falling into the wrong hands. I've always done that for people when selling their laptops. Its also better for the receipient to know that you haven't given them a faulty drive if it breaks down a few days later i.e. they've bought a new drive therefore its not your fault if it crashes.

If you don't want to do that you can find a file erase type software. I believe cccleaner has that kind of functionality built in and its free. Don't forget if you've purchased software especially with CD installs, make sure you either transfer the licence details to them or uninstall them (ensuring you have the key details for installing on your new one). 

Else I'd be doing full restore back to original settings then doing the updates. Last time I did that for some one it took well over a day to do so hence throw it to someone else to deal with!

[gemz4the1]

Thank you for the advice @sheepdog - you've given me a few good options.  I'd never thought about removing the hard drive

[MI5]

Win8 has a factory reset option built into it.

[gemz4the1]

Thanks @MI5 - would that allow me to do it without needing any discs?

[MI5]

As long as you haven't reformatted the hard disc that came with the laptop it will run it all from the laptop.

[gemz4the1]

Ok thanks - I will try that - fingers crossed

[gemz4the1]

I ran the restore option from Windows which MI5 suggested and 6 hours later and it has successfully been restored back to factory settings.

Thank you to all of the members who have offered me advice.