Moving on from Chromebook.

xttwo2
xttwo2 Member Posts: 31 Die Hard WiFi Icon
edited November 2023 in 2020 Archives
Powerwash doesn't seem to do what it's supposed to do.  When I chose that option once; nothing was wiped. Upon restart the same wallpaper I use appeared as well as my log-on icon image at the prompt. Nope. Even all of the settings I changed remain in place.   I thought powerwash was supposed to be like the first time you turn it on after buying it. A standard blank background with the wifi-setup prompts engaging first.  Once I switch to a newer laptop in the coming days; does this mean I have to manually delete all my information from the laptop?  Or is it possible to sell it without it's hard drive?  Because if I can't really be sure if my personal information (password/credit card numbers) is wiped; I might as well keep the hard drive. I'm one of those people that believe it's not much of a leap to understand why people can earn significant cash reselling their wifi based laptops and smartphones. It's not the continued "usability" function of a preowned device; it's the previous customer information on it scammers can retrieve off of them to engage in identity theft. 

Answers

  • pkw
    pkw Member Posts: 69 Die Hard WiFi Icon
    Is it possible that your settings and data were wiped, but were restored from your Google account when you restarted? Did you check the option of restoring your data?
  • xttwo2
    xttwo2 Member Posts: 31 Die Hard WiFi Icon
     if you mean the sync setting; yeah. I guess if that might have something to do with why power wash didn't "work" the way it's supposed to; I'll try again after I buy a new laptop (not a Chromebook)
  • pkw
    pkw Member Posts: 69 Die Hard WiFi Icon
    For clarification - after performing powerwash, what is the first screen that you see immediately after restart?
  • xttwo2
    xttwo2 Member Posts: 31 Die Hard WiFi Icon
    edited May 2020
    on the failed attempt; the first screen that appears is was the usual log-on screen with the background wallpaper i use.  which told me that the powerwash didn't work.   once i logged in; then the wifi setup page came up and i was on the desktop menu.   if the powerwash worked; there should be no log-on window for me to see; and the background screen should have been the original sky blue blank screen followed by the setup windows and other prompts that appeared the  first time I bought it two years ago.  
  • pkw
    pkw Member Posts: 69 Die Hard WiFi Icon
    You are right, that does sound like the powerwash didn't happen as it should. Strange. I would be interested in what happens if you try to reinstall ChromeOS using recovery media. That might be an alternative method of resetting it.
  • xttwo2
    xttwo2 Member Posts: 31 Die Hard WiFi Icon
    edited May 2020
    i'm not interested in reinstalling anything. my thing is if the chrome "powerwash" feature is what it's meant to be; it's supposed to wipe everything from the laptop;  settings as well as changes made like wallpaper.  so when I buy another laptop and sell this one; I don't have to worry about any remaining information on it like personal information.  passwords or card numbers as it's synced to my google drive.  but I will do as you suggest in disconnecting the drive first then implementing the powerwash to see if that works. but if not then I guess I'm stuck with either keeping the whole laptop and put it in storage or the hard drive so nobody else can recover what I don't them to recover.  in this day and age of identity theft from hackers; one can never be too sure of what can't be found on a laptop someone won't use anymore. 

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,246 Trailblazer
    On most of the Chromebook models removing the disk isn't really possible, they have soldered in eMMC drives. It sounds like the powerwash didn't actually do it's thing. If it had it would have placed you at the same place you were the first time you turned it on out of the box. Try it again and document for us the steps you took and what you saw after each step. Maybe it's aborting due to a missed step...
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • xttwo2
    xttwo2 Member Posts: 31 Die Hard WiFi Icon
    i find it weird that the two most familiar and bought electronic devices; cellphones and laptops are becoming whole units. hardware repair itself is obsolete;  it's as if the make you junk the whole thing and buy a new laptop if and when the current one becomes unusable. i guess that's the trade-off for making laptops cheap these days ($300 and under)   I'm 46; the first laptop I bought was in 1992 for $1500  (Tandy 1800HD) Easy removable parts. Not the case today with everything soldered in.  
  • pkw
    pkw Member Posts: 69 Die Hard WiFi Icon
    True about the trend of hardware being not easily repairable these days. I too remember early(ish) pcs and how easy it was to change components.

    On the personal data issue. Maybe someone here more knowledgeable about ChromeOS can correct me, but the file system is encrypted and it wouldn't be easy/possible for somebody to recover data without knowing your details unless it's perhaps data forensics level. Unless you stored files with data like credit card numbers etc., they normally wouldn't be saved anywhere or would be saved in encrypted form or on Google servers.

    If the powerwash/reinstall still doesn't work, you might want to try some other things like a bootable linux with drive wipe utilities etc.

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