old pc disposal

[dsawan]

just curious, what do you guys do to old pc's when you get new ones? How you go about getting ird of old pc's.

[Hern07]

If it's just old and is still working you can donate it to your local thrift store, Goodwill or the Salvation Army,

[AGAS 5]

That's a very good way to do it.... just make sure you use a decent program to wipe your hard drive a few times first (protect your private data) ......

The other thing you can do is turn it into a music / video server.... either on a home network or in a simple cross over config. My boys and I have a couple of oldies set up this way. I also use an old screen/keyboard with a switch box to control each pc.

Cheers,

Pete

[Fibber]

I was told that the best way to protect your privacy when donating PC's is to remove the hard drive and let the recipient supply their own. A knowledgeable person with the right software can resurrect a hard drive with your info on it.
I am far from knowledgeable in this area and I was able to partially resurrect a HD I bought at a Computer Renissance (sp) shop. So beware.

[dsawan]

cool, thx. Just don't want too many towers takin up space. wasn;t too sure if you could call the city and tell them to taek them away. I know for tv's, you need to because of the materials are hazaardous and regular trash wont touch them.

[The B24 Guy]

Once a year our county has a recycle drop off weekend.
I think the Health dept. runs it.
You could call your local office and see if they have something also.

Regards,
B24Guy

[OBIO]

I was told that the best way to protect your privacy when donating PC's is to remove the hard drive and let the recipient supply their own. A knowledgeable person with the right software can resurrect a hard drive with your info on it.
I am far from knowledgeable in this area and I was able to partially resurrect a HD I bought at a Computer Renissance (sp) shop. So beware.

If you simply delete the files, then they can be retreived from the HD as the information is still there. But if you use a add on utility that actually over writes the information, retreiving it becomes much harder or impossible. Thanks to Dirtman's input, I no longer DELETE any thing. I ERASE all files that I no longer want or need by using a simple utility caller ERASER....it's free, fast, does not hog up resources. You can set the program up to overwrite files 1 time, 3 times, 7 times or 35 times (takes for ever to do a 35 time overwrite but well worth using on very vital info you do not want anyone getting to).

If the system still works, you can donate it to a local charity for them to sell to help fund their programs. Another option is to find someone who needs a system and does not need the latest and greatest.....in our area, there is a Yahoo Group called FreeCycle where you can do a post about things you have that you want to give away....you might want to check to see if there is such a Yahoo Group in your area.

OBIO

[Wulf190]

If you simply delete the files, then they can be retreived from the HD as the information is still there. But if you use a add on utility that actually over writes the information, retreiving it becomes much harder or impossible. Thanks to Dirtman's input, I no longer DELETE any thing. I ERASE all files that I no longer want or need by using a simple utility caller ERASER....it's free, fast, does not hog up resources. You can set the program up to overwrite files 1 time, 3 times, 7 times or 35 times (takes for ever to do a 35 time overwrite but well worth using on very vital info you do not want anyone getting to).

Thats a good start, but I'll agree that its better to keep the HDD. If you want to junk it (the HDD) open it up, and take a drill to it in five random places on the platters (plates). No body will get anything from it then.

[capun]

Try to find a group that refurbishes systems and donates them to needy families.

Locally we have a group that is run with the help of the Heald College. Heald provides the students to refurbish the systems.

As for the disk clean-up if you want to donate the disk, get a disk clean-up program. I think there are a couple of freeware programs available.

Beware they may take a couple of days to run to do a thorough clean-up that meets one of the minimum DoD specs.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

If it's just old and is still working you can donate it to your local thrift store, Goodwill or the Salvation Army,

..or the Disabled American Veterans Thrift store in your area. As a DAV service officer I know that all profits go to to veteran support programs.