How To Convert Work Laptop To Personal – 5 Easy Ways That Really Do The Work Done.

Last Updated/Fact Checked on November 26, 2022 by Irslan

Everyone needs a companion, whether life feels feeble and dull, it doesn’t have to be a living thing like a pet dog which you can pat or a life partner that you could spend time with.

Sometimes, your own precious laptop can assist you in your daily life by ensuring you stay productive.

Now, if you don’t own one and are working in an office on a laptop provided by the company, using it as a personal computer for casual purposes cannot be feasible for all intents and purposes.

Since you are liable to follow company rules and are limited by restrictions imposed by the policy which is why your work laptop can be blocked to be used for purposes other than it is allowed to.

But fret not, if you want to know How To Convert Work Laptop To Personal, here are a couple of tips and tricks you can perform that will let you use that laptop without any sort of restriction.

Why Is Conversion Necessary?

The reason behind it is that when you are allotted a work-based laptop, it falls under the policies assigned by the company which ensures their data does not fall in the wrong hands at the time of a security breach.

This is why company laptops are usually riddled with a number of protective software either for preventive measures known as DRM.

What is DRM?

Digital Rights Management program is a form of software that allows the user to work or perform tasks in a controlled environment and prevents file tampering or file sharing protocols.

In other words, it blocks all sorts of unauthorized internet activities except for a few ones. Moreover, it also prevents the users from acquiring any privileges and you may have to contact the admin if you want to have security clearance. 

Such allowance of privileges is usually logged, so if by any chance there is a security breach, they would have the digital footprint and can easily track back to the data leak.

The logging process includes but isn’t limited to,

  • Login Activities
  • Internet browsing activity
  • Keystrokes Logging ( in severe cases of surveillance)
  • Peripheral connection monitoring
  • File sharing privileges
Note: Depending on the nature of work, your company may or may not be following the protocols mentioned above. In such cases kindly refer to your company policies so that you can be sure that you aren't violating any rules or regulations.

Methods On How To Convert Work Laptop To Personal

Once you are sure that you are free to convert your work laptop without violating any rules in case of a resignation or retirement, here are a couple of methods you can follow.

1. Change The Hardware.

This might cost a little bit of money, however, you can be 100% sure that you are getting rid of almost any level of mild restriction that has been plaguing your hard drive or SSD.

All you have to do is simply remove the hard drive or Solid state drive and replace it with a newer one. In such a way not only are you getting rid of any possibility of a data breach but also you can ensure yourself that you will be using a laptop with a brand new storage drive with perfect health.

2. Format Your Hard drive or SSD.

If by any chance the method mentioned above is simply out of the equation due to budget limitations or you don’t want to tamper with your hardware, you can perform a complete wipe of all your partitions multiple times so that any data previously present on it may not be recoverable.

3. Use A Shredder.

Oftentimes simple formatting protocols may not be sufficient as there is some file recovery software created by hackers that can recover almost any file no matter how many times the drive is formatted.

In such cases, you can download and use a file shredder such as Eraser, Hardwipe, or PrivaZer.

This file shredding software follows an over the top algorithms such as DoD 5220.22-M, AFSSI-5020, AR 380-19, RCMP TSSIT OPS-II, HMG IS5, VSITR, GOST R 50739-95, Gutmann which are erasing methods that fill up and replace the hardware with random files and obliterate it afterward so even if anyone performs a file recovery software through any means, they won’t be able to recover anything.

4. Fresh Operating System Installation.

Simple and effective and you don’t have to fall into tech jargons and mumbo jumbo, a fresh copy of any operating system such as Windows or Linux will simply do the trick and render any sort of restriction useless.

The utility where you would be installing your windows would also be providing you partition format and merge features so you can be assured that you are hitting the bullseye with just one method.

5. Using A Guest Account.

Although I wouldn’t recommend using this method as there is still your office data and companies restriction assigned to your laptop, nonetheless, this method is still applicable.

Creating a guest account would welcome you to a separate space where you can perform your everyday tasks without feeling restricted.

But if by any fortunate chance, the laptop is blocked from creating a separate guest account, then use the methods mentioned above.

Bottom Line

Data security should be everyone’s utmost priority and there shouldn’t be any compromise on it. Data breaches are a serious matter and can harm an individual or a firm in an irreversible manner.

Make sure you keep your company’s policies in mind and take steps that would be used to prosecute you or make you liable for a lawsuit.

I hope this article was well written enough for your understanding and there wasn’t any sort of confusion on How To Convert Work Laptop To Personal.

Nothenessl, feel free to contact me if you still have any queries left.