My biggest gripe with second hand computers...   

Yeah my first computer was my best friends. I deleted some of the pictures and changed it from Angie to Shaunee. I kept some of the picture of her kids on there. Her two little boys are great kids and pretty well behaved also.

I would totally reformat a second computer before using it. I realise that this could be a problem if you do not possess a copy of Windows to install onto it, in which case you would need to sort out all the junk.
Deleting a surplus files such as documents and images would be a good start, followed by tidying up the start menu etcetera. You should also remove any unwanted programs to release space and reduce the demand on resources.
If you find it hard to sort out the junk from the system, then I would suggest creating a new user account and then deleting the old one.

I bought a second hand computer once. Also from a pawn shop I think. Anyway, before I purchased it, it had been completely cleaned out, so no second-hand junk on it. If I sell my old PC (depends on how broken it is), I'm going to clean everything off it first, maybe paying to have it done properly.

Hi,

I too have bought used computers in the past. Typically I try to erase as much stuff as I can for it makes the computer run faster. However, there are always hidden files that are totally difficult to find. That is one of the reasons I tend to always buy my computers new now. Too many pitfalls the other way.

cheers,

Hello beauty queen. Speaking of computer or second-hand computer, I have to say that I am very happy with my IBM laptop. I have been using it for more than seven years by now and it is still in good use. In most cases, I use my laptop to surf on the Internet and prepare some paperwork. I seldom play computer games. But it is very annoying once it gets infected with evil viruses. The last time when my laptop got infected with viruses, I was forced to take it to the computer guy in the town and the only way to completely get rid of the viruses off my laptop, my computer guy told me is to reformat it and so he did. Now my laptop is as good as it was new.

Thus it made me think that if you want to remove the stuff left in the computer, the best way is to either reformat or reinstall it without leaving any stuff in the computer, leaving no space for the survival of the previous stuff, including viruses. Thank you very much for your topic. I enjoy it. Happy mylotting and good day.

My first taste of the digital world was baptized with an XT model that goes with a monochrome screen, I was a college student then. I was on a budjet so I have to plow the second hand shops l looking for cheap secondhand mid models. It cost around 200 us dollars back then but it was a bargain considering the newly released model AT was costing about 500 us dollars up. I instantly like computers being one of the few who uses it at that time feels like being a pioneer or something. Since the age was young and the OS starts with 3.11 with booting MS dos and a limited broadsheet software like wordstar and wordpro poeople seemed reluctant to give up their cost-effective, ever-reliable, power independent type writer. As hardware and programs evolved with the advent of multi-media and printing enchancement, the typewriter became history and been archived so to speak. I literally followed the evolution of the digital world. From XT up to now. Taking note of the improvement both on the hardware and software. From 5.5 inch 360k floppy disk to 8g flashdisk amomg others and I enjoyed it endlessly. The investment was worth the knowledge I gain. I think I am hook to this evolution as long as I live.

My father likes the second-hand very much. But I don't like much. I alway say with him that if he buy the second-hand thing, he'll use it around one or two months then he has to repair it. The money for repair, he'll spend it for the new things. But he don't accept and he angry with me. In the future, I don't say him about that problem.

I have never bought a computer second hand so I have no old files so to speak.

If I do buy one I think I would format the drive to make sure I am starting from scratch.

Have a great day from Deeeky.

i have never bought a used computer but may need to if this economy stays the way it is and something happens to my computer. i would prefer not to buy a used one but you make do with what you can afford at the time, right?

We've gotten second hand computers - one from a friend of mine and one from one of Dh's friends. We just reformat the hard drive and delete everything so that we start fresh.