PC Tech Thread

Getting GParted live to run off a USB stick was a faff. Using it fortunately very straightforward and successful.

C: drive has gone from almost full to 270GB free.

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At the risk of ending up in the tofu-eating thread, I'm donating my old laptop to charity shortly. Want to check up on how to wipe everything off it before I do. Is it good old format c: like in the good old days or is there a better/more up-to-date way of doing it now?

Cheers.

Is it good old format c:

That barely affects the magnetic domains/flash cells. Overwriting with junk data is the way, there are tools for that https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_data-erasing_software

not specifically tech but have got myself a dell XPS. Don't use it that often or for anything heavy. Sometimes closed with external display.
Do I want to just keep it plugged in to extend battery life or cycle it? Seems to be some debate / doesn't look like it matters that much. Cheers

I thought the standard windows format gives you the option to do as many passes as you want to overwrite properly (the /p flag)

And then for SSD’s then the drive manufacturer may offer a utility if they normally use an algorithm to avoid unnecessary writes

The key question is whether it is a spinning HDD or SSD.

Single overwrite with any data is fine for HDD. Unless the CIA are likely to be looking at it.

SSD needs the manufacturer's wipe utility as there is no other way of accessing the individual blocks.

If in any doubt, physical destruction works for either.

I thought the standard windows format gives you the option to do as many passes as you want to overwrite properly (the /p flag)

Yes, if you run from the command line, but it also relies on having a second machine as you can't format the boot drive. Data destruction tools will let you overwrite empty space after "deleting" your private data, without obliterating the OS

Fairly sure it's SSD. Not really keen to go down the physical destruction route given I'm donating it.

Set charging min discharge / max charge thresholds for maximum battery life and then keep it plugged in the rest of the time. Your manufacturer should have advice on this, but generally 20% / 80%.

There's often a bios setting for how you want the charging to work depending on how you use it.

It's not that obvious how you find out on Windows, but you should be able to get storage device manufacturer and model and usually whether an SSD from C: properties then Hardware.

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thnx and @aggi. Can't find the setting on my laptop (yet) but still going!
Edit got it! Ta. There's 5 settings that dell do for you in their power manager app and one is primarily for AC. so I'll do that or the max/min custom setting

Ah, cheers. It's a generic MMC drive, so SSD.

If it's really generic then there may not be any easy way to ensure erasure of the whole thing. Remove and destroy if you can. The charity will probably just swap one in from somewhere else. Don't overthink it.

I've got an ancient "apacer disc steno cp200" external CD drive.

Anyone know if I can run it on Windows 10/11 with Windows 98 drivers somehow?

Anyone set up Open VPN on a Synology NAS? I've successfully managed to set a the far easier L2TP/IPSec VPN, but discovered to my utter dismay Android 13+ doesn't support it, so I won't be able to connect to it via my Galaxy pad (which I use for work when away). I've watched a couple of YouTube videos on it but they all start talking about 'port forwarding' and 'clients' in the non-traditional sense of clients and at that point the conversation goes way over my head.

No, but there's usually some place where you can exclude device(s) from the VPN connection via IP or MAC.

Is there some way to install stuff like the drivers above using legacy support mode or did I dream that? Was that a Win2K setting or something - running apps in Compatibility Mode? It deffo was a thing.

Another option might be to spin up a Win98 virtual machine somehow but to be honest, it's probably easier finding a machine with a frickin CD drive than pissing about with this kind of crap, just to look at my scan images

You can get a more modern CD drive for absolute peanuts online. I did that a couple of years ago to rip my boxset of The Wire so I could re-watch it. Tenner maybe?

As for the VPN, I'm looking to include Android rather than exclude anything. And since Android 13 dropped, devices no longer connect to L2TP/IPSec VPNs.

I prefer not to buy a new thing if I can make existing thing work. Reduce Reuse Recycle.

Are you trying to setup OpenVPN instead of l2tp? I thought you were just trying to exclude your Android device from the l2tp vpn because it's no longer supported?

https://support.google.com/android/thread/196228681/android-13-deleted-l2tp-vpn-standard-sending-me-to-the-hell?hl=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbfa-YVUfls

Yep, wanting to set up Open VPN so I can connect from an Android device.

I'll check that video out, but I think I kind of mentally switch off when the language becomes too technical. Plus I'm not clear on the port forwarding shit. Do I need to do it on the TP Link wifi extender as well or just the router? Who knows? If so, how on earth do I do that? So many questions, so few answers.

It took a bit of wrangling (registry editing) to get Windows to connect with the L2tp, which I just about managed, but I fear that's about my limit before I feel like I'm about to cause irreparable damage to something.

Right click > Properties > Compatibility

Ha, missed the Properties step. It's clearly been too long since I've had to fuck around with ancient kit. Let me try that. Thanks

No dice just running setup. Wonder if I can trick it some other way.

Installing the INF gets: third party inf does not contain digital signature information

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I think I'll just see my mate with a CD drive :)

Anyone used VLC to rip youtube audio recently? Latest version, updated luac, cookie thing off and no dice.