Exposed floorboards help!!

[GreenEyedMonster2014]

So we just bought our house and are trying to get it to a decent state before we move in at the end of the month. This is our first house and neither of us is particularly good at DIY.
The previous homeowner had the house for the last 40 odd years, they laid carpet on top of vinyl on top of brown paper (?). Anyway, we're pulling up the carpet downstairs with the hopes of having exposed floorboards. The problem is that there are a number of floor staples that are so old that they're embedded into the wood. There is no chance of getting them out without digging right into the wood.
So my question is, if they're flush with the wood and there's no risk of tripping or hurting ourselves on them, can they be left in? And would that pose a risk when it comes to sanding the wood?

As long as they're flush and there's no sharp edges, they'll be fine.

The sander will smooth everything compeletely smooth, even nailheads! Don't worry about it. I do however recommend you get the professionals in; it's not a big or particularly messy job if they do it - but if you DIY? - welll!!!

I only know this thing as a tack lifter, but I have never known it fail on a staple. If the staple snaps, use pincers on the remains.

You can also get a Faithful Nail Puller for bigger things.

When we sanded our floors I took out the ones I could easily get out and the ones that were very tightly embedded I either left alone or hammered them flush with the floor.

Thanks for the advice, we're very tight on budget at the moment so we decided to just do the painting and put a few strategically placed rugs where its worst. The staples haven't been a problem, I've been removing them a bit at a time myself, hard work but I'm pretty much done. Upstairs I'm not even going to bother, we're just having cheap carpet put down minus the underlay for the time being until we've decorated.

Yeh the sander will indeed sort it. We had old nails stuck up slightly in our 150 year old house and sanded right over the top and it smoothed the nails right out. It was a hired professional sander I might add.