Wiping a Work Computer to be then used for personal use (1 Viewer)

[coopersdad]

In about a year, I'll be leaving my company as they are relocating to California (yeah don't ask). Anyway most of our employees will be severed at the end of May. Today we were informed that we'll be allowed to keep all of our computer supplies (docking stations, monitors, laptop, speakers, etc).

With that being said, they informed us that they'll "wipe" our laptops before we can keep them.

My laptop is only 2-3 months old, and I'm sure it is top of the line Dell, so I'm guessing it would be a good deal for me to keep it and get it set up for personal use.

I know that I'll need to transfer all my personal stuff off to a flash drive before it is wiped.

After that what would I need to do? Purchase MS Office Suite package? Would all the drivers and such be gone?

Any advice would be helpful, as I can communicate that to current employees that will be leaving next month.

Thanks.

 

[Eephus]

The big question is whether they're going to wipe the operating system or give you a generic Windows build. I've bought wiped corporate laptops on eBay and they've been functional out of the box. If it's missing any any vendor specific utilities or drivers, you should be able to get them from Dell. Sometimes corporate builds disable the Windows Store which is kind of a pain but there are instructions on the Internet for restoring that if you need to.

I've discovered I can live without an Office 365 subscription

 

[the moops]

I am guessing, but I bet they leave or reinstall the Microsoft suite and such. They will just wipe all data and work specific stuff on there and just give you a clean build.

But honestly, just ask someone at IT and they will tell you

 

[coopersdad]

I am guessing, but I bet they leave or reinstall the Microsoft suite and such. They will just wipe all data and work specific stuff on there and just give you a clean build.

But honestly, just ask someone at IT and they will tell you

that was my next step. firing off an email to one of the guys now. appreciate the input.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Use Google Docs and google sheets. Don't waste your money on MS Office.

 

[TheAristocrat]

You know it's top of the line if the company doesn't want it back.

 

[3C's]

If they literally wipe it and leave it with no OS, you might be able to do a factory recovery.

Reinstall Windows or Linux using the Dell OS Recovery Image | Dell US

If possible, I'd create the media before they wipe it to make it easier later.