I want to delete all personal data off of a old laptop, any tips?

If I understand correctly, if I want to make sure everything is gone, I'm going to have re-install the OS, right? So, has anyone done this, and is it possible without blasting everything off of the HDD? What program should I use?

If its only personal data on web you could try out cc cleaner, its a program that remove your whole log, saved password, cookies, refresh your trash inventory etc. If its something saved on your computer like windows 7 data, then idk. Reinstalling your OS will remove everything ofc.

Well..

When I was taking my A+ Course, we used WipeDrive
but that costs money...

In all honesty, if you just pop an operating system disc in, delete the partition, and install on a new partition you should be fine.

(This is for if you are going to format the computer)

Even doing a slow format doesn't truly wipe all of the data. The non-volatile data is still on the disk, just doesn't get erased. If you're really concerned about personal data, just DBAN it. DBAN uses the Mersenne Twister algorithm to secure erase.

Even doing a slow format doesn't truly wipe all of the data. The non-volatile data is still on the disk, just doesn't get erased. If you're really concerned about personal data, just DBAN it. DBAN uses the Mersenne Twister algorithm to secure erase.

I love new toys. Thanks Fiel!

I love all of you. I'll go with Fiel's choice. I can't say how much I appreciate the help.

If I understand correctly, if I want to make sure everything is gone, I'm going to have re-install the OS, right? So, has anyone done this, and is it possible without blasting everything off of the HDD? What program should I use?

What exactly do you want to get rid of? Who are the potential attackers you have in mind that might try to access your data?

There are several ways of getting rid of data.

• Simply delete the files. If you're not sure exactly which files you need to get rid of, just reinstall the operating system.
  
• Use a utility like Darik's Boot and Nuke that actually overwrites the bits on the hard drive. This protects against someone using software to scan your hard drive and look for data. When you delete a file normally, it doesn't really set the bits the file occupied to all 0s. It just marks the space that it occupied as free. If that space does not get allocated to other files later, the data is still there. Boot and Nuke is for securely erasing an entire hard drive, but there are also utilities that can securely delete individual files.
  
• Use an overwriting utility like above and physically destroy the disk. This protects against certain forensic techiniques that are far out of the reach of ordinary people. Obviously this prevents the disk from being reused and is overkill in your case but it's used for things like military secrets.
  

If you're certain that whoever might have access to the hard drive isn't smart enough to use software scanning the hard drive for data and/or you don't care about the data that much then deleting the files is an option. Otherwise, use a secure deletion utility.

if you still want to keep the OS, as mentioned above, try CC Cleaner, and check [Wipe free space]