Best way to prepare my Z60t for resale?

I'm running a security wipe of the unused space on my hard drive right now, but will entertain any suggestions of how best to prepare my Thinkpad Z60t for resale on Ebay.

Now, I'm an Ebay regular and have sold several laptops and even a car there before, so I don't need help with that part. But I've never had to deal with returning the security settings (fingerprint, etc.) before and I don't want to lock myself out of my own system.

How can I get myself into trouble here?

 

Why not restore it to "out of the box" condition? Unless you have nuked the recovery partition, just push the blue button during boot up. If you have gotten rid of the restore partition I would still recommend reformatting and OVERWRITING the blank space ("deleted files aren't really deleted) before selling it. You'll have to reinstall all drivers/utilities after a clean format but that way you'll know it's clean/ready for the next user.

 

I think if you uninstall the fingerprint stuff it will ask if you want to keep the prints, you could just do that and select: NO.

But if I had the rescue partition still on my machine, that is how I would resell it, use that and restore it to factory settings. That or my rescue disks...

 

If you are worried about data being stolen, well that's another mater entirely, I'm not sure the system restore does any such thing, other than write over particular sectors. You might wish to use a utility just for such cleans, they do exist.

 

Oh, I plan on using the system restore partition, I was just worried that if I shut down the fingerprint security incorrectly it would lock me out of the system. I'm going to do a security wipe of all of my windows folders sans "Windows" and the root files. Then I'm going to do another security wipe of all the unused disk space (I'm getting paranoid in my old age) either before or after the clean restore. Probably after.

I use a program called Eraser that does a DOD (Dept. of Defense) quality wipe.

 

Why not just uninstall the fingerprint reader in windows (and disable in BIOS if you have it enabled)?

 

how much do you want for it?

 

if i will buy your laptop, this would be my standards

1. laptop is nice and clean: no grimes or stains in here and there
2. no installed softwares included, may it be hacked or brute-forced softwares. if you will include some, make sure it is original and give me the discs as add-ons or free
3. no fingerprint id's left of course
4. i want a fully restored state plus the recent update releases for that laptop
5. so how about the warranty?

that's all

 

As to the value of my Z60t (2511-FEU), a little Ebay research tells me it's in the $700 ballpark. I did upgrade the RAM to 1GB (2-DIMMS) so probably $750. The screen doesn't have any dead pixels and I've not man-handled it but there is some wear on the touchpad and keys. I've kept all the original packaging and manuals, so that's a plus.

I'm debating buying a year of warranty from Lenovo, which will probably cost me about $100 (I'll find out Monday). I don't think I can up the price but it may help make the sale.

I HOPE to sell it to someone who is familiar with the brand and doesn't need any hand-holding.

 

buy the warranty when someone buys your laptop. that way, everything is fresh

 

Don't overlook Craig's List. I sold my X40 there recently and got more than the average price that I saw on EBay AND didn't have to pay a commision.

 

If you're worried about security I would just create the OEM restore CD's and then wipe the whole drive by using a program that will write zero's to it. The restore CD's will create the restore partition again.