I have an Acer 4730Z w/Vista Home Premium. I want to put it back to factory
condition. How? Is there a hidden disk partition that will do it for me?
Press some key while start-up is going on? I have 2 "recovery disks". Can
I use them? How? TIA, Paul

On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:26:37 -0500, "Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net>
wrote:

>I have an Acer 4730Z w/Vista Home Premium. I want to put it back to factory
>condition. How? Is there a hidden disk partition that will do it for me?
>Press some key while start-up is going on? I have 2 "recovery disks". Can
>I use them? How? TIA, Paul

Don't you have a handbook or at least a sheet of paper with a description how to
do it?
--
Charles Berliner: Geschichte der Annaëlle

http://www.ariplex.com/ama/ama_anna.htm

I'm going to sell it, and the instruction manual, etc. has not been out of
the shrink wrap. But I have Googled, and have some ideas. Thanks,
anyway...

"Happy Oyster" <happy.oyster@ariplex.com> wrote in message
news:c8h8b51i6ah1ofg31j6kfmartv28v1g3rs@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:26:37 -0500, "Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net>
> wrote:
>
>>I have an Acer 4730Z w/Vista Home Premium. I want to put it back to
>>factory
>>condition. How? Is there a hidden disk partition that will do it for me?
>>Press some key while start-up is going on? I have 2 "recovery disks".
>>Can
>>I use them? How? TIA, Paul
>
> Don't you have a handbook or at least a sheet of paper with a description
> how to
> do it?
> --
> Charles Berliner: Geschichte der Annaëlle
>
> http://www.ariplex.com/ama/ama_anna.htm
>

On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:13:32 -0500, "Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net>
wrote:

>I'm going to sell it, and the instruction manual, etc. has not been out of
>the shrink wrap. But I have Googled, and have some ideas. Thanks,
>anyway...

Then you have a problem because it is a MUST to completely erase all private
data on the HDD.



>"Happy Oyster" <happy.oyster@ariplex.com> wrote in message
>news:c8h8b51i6ah1ofg31j6kfmartv28v1g3rs@4ax.com.. .
>> On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:26:37 -0500, "Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>I have an Acer 4730Z w/Vista Home Premium. I want to put it back to
>>>factory
>>>condition. How? Is there a hidden disk partition that will do it for me?
>>>Press some key while start-up is going on? I have 2 "recovery disks".
>>>Can
>>>I use them? How? TIA, Paul
>>
>> Don't you have a handbook or at least a sheet of paper with a description
>> how to
>> do it?
>> --
>> Charles Berliner: Geschichte der Annaëlle
>>
>> http://www.ariplex.com/ama/ama_anna.htm
>>
--
Charles Berliner: Geschichte der Annaëlle

http://www.ariplex.com/ama/ama_anna.htm

I used Acer eRecovery to cause the hidden disk partition to reformat the
disk and set Windows to factory condition.

"Happy Oyster" <happy.oyster@ariplex.com> wrote in message
news:ocj8b51tbuvbp3r4tb88m82u96rlouos9v@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:13:32 -0500, "Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net>
> wrote:
>
>>I'm going to sell it, and the instruction manual, etc. has not been out of
>>the shrink wrap. But I have Googled, and have some ideas. Thanks,
>>anyway...
>
> Then you have a problem because it is a MUST to completely erase all
> private
> data on the HDD.
>
>
>
>>"Happy Oyster" <happy.oyster@ariplex.com> wrote in message
>>news:c8h8b51i6ah1ofg31j6kfmartv28v1g3rs@4ax.com. ..
>>> On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:26:37 -0500, "Paul H"
>>> <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I have an Acer 4730Z w/Vista Home Premium. I want to put it back to
>>>>factory
>>>>condition. How? Is there a hidden disk partition that will do it for
>>>>me?
>>>>Press some key while start-up is going on? I have 2 "recovery disks".
>>>>Can
>>>>I use them? How? TIA, Paul
>>>
>>> Don't you have a handbook or at least a sheet of paper with a
>>> description
>>> how to
>>> do it?
>>> --
>>> Charles Berliner: Geschichte der Annaëlle
>>>
>>> http://www.ariplex.com/ama/ama_anna.htm
>>>
> --
> Charles Berliner: Geschichte der Annaëlle
>
> http://www.ariplex.com/ama/ama_anna.htm
>

"Happy Oyster" <happy.oyster@ariplex.com> wrote in message
news:ocj8b51tbuvbp3r4tb88m82u96rlouos9v@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:13:32 -0500, "Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net>
> wrote:
>
> >I'm going to sell it, and the instruction manual, etc. has not been out
of
> >the shrink wrap. But I have Googled, and have some ideas. Thanks,
> >anyway...
>
> Then you have a problem because it is a MUST to completely erase all
private
> data on the HDD.

I see no major problem, so long as Vista allows the user
to delete all files dated since he first started using this PC.
(Non-data files essential to Vista will be protected by Vista.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net> wrote in message
news:4ab4dc02$0$23744$bbae4d71@news.suddenlink.net ...
>I used Acer eRecovery to cause the hidden disk partition to reformat the
>disk and set Windows to factory condition.
>

The files that occupy the disc space not overwritten by the reinstall of the
factory installation can be easily recovered using tools freely available.

The laptop was quickly sold, and the new user set up his new Vista. I am
sure none of my old data remained. It did a complete format.

"M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4ab75577_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
>
> "Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net> wrote in message
> news:4ab4dc02$0$23744$bbae4d71@news.suddenlink.net ...
>>I used Acer eRecovery to cause the hidden disk partition to reformat the
>>disk and set Windows to factory condition.
>>
>
> The files that occupy the disc space not overwritten by the reinstall of
> the factory installation can be easily recovered using tools freely
> available.
>
>
>

Re: "I am sure none of my old data remained. It did a complete format."

A format does not erase any data at all. It can ALL still be recovered
after the drive is formatted (and partitioned, for that matter).

That said, most people are paranoid. If an OS was installed, you are,
as a practical matter, safe. Not because old data could not be
recovered, but because the difficulty of doing so is high enough that
unless someone has a specific reason to do so, they won't.

But understand that data is not gone until it's overwritten (until every
sector containing data has OTHER data written to it). Until it's
overwritten, it can be recovered. ANY overwrite is "good enough", all
0's, all 1's, other live data, doesn't matter. But also understand that
neither partitioning nor formatting actually overwrites the drive.

So, in summary, as regards data recovery:

1. Do Nothing
Your data is still there and is visible. Anyone can read it.

2. Erase files
Your data is still there and it's in the recycle bin. Almost anyone
can get it back.

3. Erase files and empty the recycle bin.
The data is still there. Only a geek could get to it. Although the
difficulty is not great, it won't happen unless there is a specific
reason to do so.

4. Format and/or partition the hard drive
See 3., above. This does surprisingly little.

5. Overwrite the data (with anything, in any way)
As a practical matter, the data is now unrecoverable. Technically,
it IS recoverable. But even with a "simple" overwrite (all zeros,
just once) the cost and complexity of getting it back are so great
that it probably would not even be done for law enforcement purposes
(e.g. child porn or narcotics trafficking information) although it
probably would be done if there was a national security reason for
doing so. The cost of recovery now goes to a MINIMUM of tens or
hundreds of thousands of dollars and requires attaching the drive
to laboratory equipment (e.g. recovery using the drive as a normal
drive in a normal computer is NOT possible).


Paul H wrote:
> The laptop was quickly sold, and the new user set up his new Vista. I
> am sure none of my old data remained. It did a complete format.
>
> "M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:4ab75577_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
>>
>> "Paul H" <NoSpamphobergNoSpam@att.net> wrote in message
>> news:4ab4dc02$0$23744$bbae4d71@news.suddenlink.net ...
>>> I used Acer eRecovery to cause the hidden disk partition to reformat
>>> the disk and set Windows to factory condition.
>>>
>>
>> The files that occupy the disc space not overwritten by the reinstall
>> of the factory installation can be easily recovered using tools freely
>> available.
>>
>>
>>
>