Clearing data from old computer

I am new to this, so please excuse if I haven't directed this to the proper place.
I recently bought a new computer -an e-machine, model T3025 (which has far more whistle and bells than I think I will need) to replace my IBM purhcased in 1998. I mainly use for searching information on the web, sending e-mails and checking my bank statements (no games or such) I am not computer savy, so hired someone to transfer data from IBM to discs and reinstall on my new machine. I still have the old machine, but am now moving and want to get rid of old machine (and printer and monitor). Would like to know how to "clean" the data off the old machine before I dispose of it. Also any suggestions on how to dispose of old set up would be appreciated. Please use very simplistic "lay" terms, as I hardly understand any of the computer lingo. Thanks

 

a for sure way to get rid of the old data is to "write zero's" to the hard drive. To do this, you need to find the name of the manufacturer of the hard drive (possibly from IBM) and visit their website and download a hard drive utility. It will come with instructions, and you use this utility to write zero's to the drive, which makes it exactly the same as when it came from the manufacturer...blank.

 

i almost told him to pull it out and destroy the drive...in fact I had it down and edited it. oh well.