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Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

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Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#1

Post by betamonk »

Hi,

My wife left an old firm that had a tech guy setup the entire look an feel of the OS to the Law Firm style.

I am looking for resources how to clean the laptop entirely without leaving anything that can get the firm access to my wife's laptop in the future.

I had the access to see exactly what the tech guy was doing since I had the laptop next to me and he had remoted in to do the changes.

Where can I go to learn how to make sure the laptop is clean without the complete wipe.

Thank you for everyone's input.

Re: Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#3

Post by traviswingo »

I know you said “without a complete wipe,” but that's honestly the best approach. Drag all documents and files to an external drive, take note of all programs your wife still wants on the computer, then clean install the OS. After, drag all files back from the external drive and reinstall all programs you made note of. That guarantees a clean slate.

Otherwise, you’ll have to go through the OS and attempt to uninstall anything that appears to be installed by the law firm, but usually you’ll leave behind small trace files and things that might keep them up and running.

Re: Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#4

Post by betamonk »

bartvk wrote: post #2

It's far wiser to get an official, new copy of whatever OS you prefer. And then install that OS.

The laptop is a Lenovo Thinkpad T450S that has a built in recovery partition with the original Windows 7 OS.

The issue at hand is that she doesn't want to lose all the software nor does she have the time to go through the complete clean up.

I would rather at this time be able to do a clean sweep and then when i will have more time to do a complete overhaul.

Thank you for your response.

Re: Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#5

Post by betamonk »

traviswingo wrote: post #3

I know you said “without a complete wipe,” but that's honestly the best approach. Drag all documents and files to an external drive, take note of all programs your wife still wants on the computer, then clean install the OS. After, drag all files back from the external drive and reinstall all programs you made note of. That guarantees a clean slate. Otherwise, you’ll have to go through the OS and attempt to uninstall…

traviswingo,

That is my concern that there might be some traces left behind. I agree with anyone that will suggest a clean wipe but at this time I don't have that time allocated as my wife is in the middle of a few cases.

However, once I will get laptop for a longer duration, my goal is to do a complete wipe and re-install.

Thank you for your response.

Re: Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#6

Post by jklein11 »

Just buy a new laptop. Disable the network card on the old laptop, and transfer the files via usb.

It will probably cost you $2000 tops with all of the software, etc. The cost of wiping the old one will be much greater considering the amount of time it is going to take to make sure everything is off of the old laptop and the risk of missing something.

You mentioned that she doesn't want to lose all of the software on the laptop. Does she own the license for the software or is that property of her old firm?

Re: Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#7

Post by betamonk »

jklein11 wrote: post #6

Just buy a new laptop. Disable the network card on the old laptop, and transfer the files via usb. It will probably cost you $2000 tops with all of the software, etc. The cost of wiping the old one will be much greater considering the amount of time it is going to take to make sure everything is off of the old laptop and the risk of missing something. You mentioned that she doesn't want to lose all of the software on…

jklein11,

Thank you for your response and advice. Yes, she owns the license as well as the new firm she joined has purchased the software they use. She doesn't want to go through re-installing and asking for the software again because of the time crunch she is in.

The suggestion in buying a new laptop at this time is not an expense we can take on. I will have to think of something else as the clean wipe is the only way to do it I guess.

Thank you.

Re: Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#8

Post by jklein11 »

betamonk wrote: post #7
jklein11 wrote: post #6

Just buy a new laptop. Disable the network card on the old laptop, and transfer the files via usb. It will probably cost you $2000 tops with all of the software, etc. The cost of wiping the old one will be much greater considering the amount of time it is going to take to make sure everything is off of the old laptop and the risk of missing something. You mentioned that she doesn't want to lose all of the software on…

jklein11, Thank you for your response and advice. Yes, she owns the license as well as the new firm she joined has purchased the software they use. She doesn't want to go through re-installing and asking for the software again because of the time crunch she is in. The suggestion in buying a new laptop at this time is not an expense we can take on. I will have to think of something else as the clean wipe is the only w…

If this is a temporary solution you could use the laptop with the network card disabled.

If this isn't a license issue the price of replacing the laptop would be way less. The model you mentioned previously sells brand new for $900 or less. I saw some refurbished models for ~$300.

Is her new firm providing her with a laptop? It strikes me as odd that law firms have a BYOD policy when the data that is stored on them is sensitive and proprietary

Re: Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#9

Post by lovelearning »

There's a network and system activity monitoring tool called GlassWire[1] with good visualizations and intuitive reports. When it was first shown here couple of years ago [2], I was very impressed. I don't use Windows anymore but hopefully the tool's still as good and maintained well. Maybe you can run it for a few weeks to either convince yourself there's no mischief from the old firm, or take more targeted actions.

[1]: https://www.glasswire.com/

[2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8222652

Re: Ask HN: How do I clean a Laptop from a previous setup by a Law Firm

#10

Post by chefkoch »

jklein11 wrote: post #6

Just buy a new laptop. Disable the network card on the old laptop, and transfer the files via usb. It will probably cost you $2000 tops with all of the software, etc. The cost of wiping the old one will be much greater considering the amount of time it is going to take to make sure everything is off of the old laptop and the risk of missing something. You mentioned that she doesn't want to lose all of the software on…

>Just buy a new laptop.

Yeah, shure....

Buy a new SSD, put the old in a USB case and install the OS and the apps. I don't know what apps a lawyer needs but it shouldn't take longer than 3 hours while watching TV and 130$.

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