Did you buy a new cell phone, laptop or tablet over the weekend?
What are you going to do about all the personal pictures and information on the devices they're replacing?
Jon Pina buys back used electronics for Device Pit Stop in Phoenix and says it's a really good idea to erase everything. But there's one thing you need to do first.
"Make sure you have a back up of your personal information," he says.
It's especially important for laptops.
So put all the important stuff on a memory stick, SD card, or hard drive, then you can really get started.
Pina says the easiest way to clean your device is by doing a factory reset. That restores the phone to the original system settings and condition that you bought it in.
For an iPhone or iPad he says that means going to Settings>General>Reset Device>Erase all content and settings> Reset device> Erase all content and settings.
Next it will ask for your passcode.
"It gets rid of your information and then basically rewrites over it," he says.
Similar process for Android phones and tablets. Go to Settings>Back up and reset>Factory data reset.
For computers with Windows 8 and up it's slightly different. Select Settings>Change PC settings>Update and Recovery>Recovery>Fully clean the drive>Remove everything and reinstall Windows>Fully clean the drive
Jon says computers will take a few hours to complete, but keeping your information out of the wrong hands is worth it.
Enjoy your new gadgets.
Need my help?
Call volunteers with the Assistance League of Phoenix at 855-323-1515, email me at Joe@abc15.com or contact me on Facebook or Twitter.
