How to dispose of a used computer?

Factual Questions
1

You all were a big help choosing my new computer. Now I’m wondering what to do with my old one. Last time I bought a new computer I gave the disgarded model to my brother to tinker with and use for parts. Since then, we’ve moved and my brother is 3000 miles away. My old computer is a s-l-l-o-ow, 5-year-old, Pentium II. It has a 15-inch monitor (which I’ve traded in for a 19-inch), no working sound card, a keyboard with the ‘e’ worn off (and the ‘r’, ‘t’, ‘a’ and ‘s’ mostly worn off) and a missing slot door on the cd-drive. A piece of shit, in short. Selling it isn’t an option as it isn’t worth anything, but I was thinking of giving it to the Disabled Vets or someone to refurbish and sell… However, how do I clear all my stuff off of it first? There isn’t anything much – I never used Quicken or Money or used a tax program. Basically, ‘my stuff’ is my address book, old college papers, recipes – things like that. Those I could just delete, I suppose, although I’ve heard that a really dedicated person can get deleted files off a hard drive. However, due to the trivial nature of the information, I can’t imagine anyone bothering to do so – nor can I think of any possible damage resulting from such. I did do some secure things on-line though – credit card transactions, online banking – is this stuff burned onto the hard drive? Maybe I should just take the CPU out to the driveway and smash it to tiny bits with a sledgehammer?

Jess

2

All of this is information is stored on the hard drive. Take out the hard drive and, depending on how paranoid you are (in ascending order of paranoia)

a. delete everything and throw it out
b. delete everything, smash it and throw it out
c. delete everything, burn it, smash it and throw it out
d. delete everything, run a big-ass magnet over it, burn it, smash it and throw it out
e. delete everything, run a big-ass magnet over it, burn it, smash it and throw it out then make suitable sacrifices to your deity of choice.

3

First of all, smashing the CPU won’t help. You need to smash the hard drive, if anything.

But formatting the hard drive should be enough to deter all but the seriously curious. If you have a copy of Norton Utilities around, I believe it includes a utility called WipeInfo to more permanently delete sensitive data. Run that, then reformat the drive using fdisk and overwrite the MBR, and you should be pretty safe.

As for the PC, a Pentium II should still have value to somebody. Try your local school system to see if they take donations, give it to Goodwill, or put an ad in your local Bargain Finder/Buy & Sell in the Giveaway section. I’d bet you’ll find someone willing to pick it up. A P2 with some extra RAM makes a nice Linux box. Or, if people don’t mind older software, it should run Windows 98/Office 97 nicely, which is still quite usable.

4

A low level format of the HDD should be enough for your purposes. If you’re giving it to someone you know, they may appreciate you re-installing the operating system.

As stated above, a local school should have some interest in a PII. If you itemize your taxes, you may get a tax deduction out of it.

Next to worst case scenario: most manufacturer’s who sell PC’s in the US will accept their return.

The worst thing you could do would be to just throw it away where it will wind up leaching chemicals off the motherboard in some landfill.

5

As mentioned, if you’re not paranoid reformatting should be enough.

If you’re a bit paranoid you can boot from tomstrbt and do a dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda a few times to write random data to the drive.

If you’re totally paranoid, read this.

If you’re completely delusional, you won’t believe anything I tell you anyway because I’m one of THEM! :wink:

6

I’ve been taking used computers for years for a few thrift shops. Here are some hints:

1, bring in everything at the same time & note on some paper anything you know about it’s specs.
2. Find a thrift shop that would take it. Just call them. I think that GW industries almost always takes them.
3. take the HD out & throw it out or keep it, its not worth people reading your data to keep it in. Plus they don’t have a right to the operating system usually.

When I get a computer I reformat it to protect the data of whoever gave it to me unless someone already cleared their data.

7

Just leave it on the road beside your rubbish on bin day and some kind soul will pick it up well before the bin men arrive.

8

Just leave it on the road beside your rubbish on bin day and some kind soul will pick it up well before the bin men arrive.

9

Definitely donate it to a school. Many schools would be THRILLED to have a Pentium II. That’s how the Catholic school I work in got a lot of its equipment–donations. We have newer stuff now (I’m on a Pentium III at the moment), but it would be more than sufficient for classroom or library use, I’m sure.

Heck, I even was able to get rid of four useless (I thought) typewriters by giving them away to the school. Turns out that they’re better than computers/word processors for some office jobs, like certain transcripts and permanent records.

There’s always someone who can use free stuff.

10

Our local landfill informs us a monitor can have 5 lbs of lead in it & they are now charging $20 or so to take them. Doesn’t keep people from sneaking them into their cans though.

11

http://members.aol.com/spoons1000/break/index.html

-lv

12

Dude if youre real paranoic about the stuff in your old hard drive keep it. Most new computers have an open bay to add another hard drive, stick your old one in there and use it to keep MP3s in it or something. You could even get a case to put that old on in and use it as an external backup drive.

Smashing the CPU is for fun only. there is no real need as far as security goes. On giant static zap on an unmounted CPU and its adios processoros.

You could keep the 15" monitor if you have dual monitor capability (which most new high end video cards do) But if its still working well, donate it and get a tax break. or go to a computer swap meet or convention and sell it for cash.

13

You can take out the hard drive, although, on a computer from 5 years ago, I’m sure it’s hardly worth the effort, what is it, 2 gigs?

There are programs that you can download from CNET or other such places that write ones and zeros over all the free space on the hard drive, multiple times. The NSA might be able to recover something from that drive, but J.R. Hacker won’t be able to get anything from that.

Donating is altruistic, but it’s a hassle.

Occasionally a fire department will have a toxic trash ‘free’ day wehre you can drive by and drop off your un-used paints and stuff, they might take a monitor.

Or you could put it in the bottom of your gabrage can where it will go to the land fill and 200 years from now, when they are mining the land fills for resources, some guy will score a monitor!

Sometimes it’s hard to throw stuff away, but it’s like that IKEA commercial where a woman gets a new lamp and puts the old lamp out by the garbage can. It starts to rain while dramatic music is playing. A guy on a bike comes up and says, “you feel sorry for the lamp? I’ll tell you why you feel sorry for the lamp. It’s because YOU’RE CRAZY! The LAMP has no feelings! Besides, the new lamp is much nicer to look at.”

If you don’t get rid of it, you’ll end up like me, I have a Mac Plus, a Mac Classic, a Quadra 640, a Power PC 8100 (or something), an image writer, a syquest 250 meg removeable media drive, SCSI hard drives (all smaller than 2 gig), SCSI dat tape drive, SCSI cables, power cables, network cables, modems, all safely stored in cardboard boxes taking up space in the garage. A LOT of space in the garage.

You have been warned.
-Sandwriter

14

Smashing the CPU is just a waste of good logic. Methinks you need a little primer in how computers work. (This won’t take long. :))

All computers do three things: Interaction, Processing, and Storage.
[ul]
[li]Interaction is done through the monitor, speakers and printer (output) and the keyboard and, sometimes, other things like joysticks or gamepads (input). The peripherals (peripheral: something attached to the main case, which is the metal box that holds the disk drives and the other stuff) that handle interaction don’t have much of anything in the way of processing or storage. The monitor, for example, is nothing more than a high-resolution TV screen with odd cables running out the back.[/li]
Peripherals adhere to standards governing how they are to accept input from computers. Therefore, they can be used with a wide range of different machines. In fact, there’s no reason for you to buy a new monitor now that you have one already.

[li]Processing: This is what most people think of computers as doing, and the speed they can do this is how computers are rated' in the techie world. Without getting too technical, the CPU performs all the processing by altering tiny electrical currents using amazingly small etchings on a silicon crystal known as a chip. All of the processing the CPU does is with electrical currents that can either be on or off, which is mathematically represented as 1 (for on) and 0 (for off). When you hear someone referring to computers as binary,’ that is what they mean.[/li]
The CPU’s only storage is a `scratch pad’ known as the cache. This is so it can store values and instructions while it is working on a processing task. The cache is wiped clean when the machine is turned off. CPUs can be reused, but old CPUs have limited value. A Pentium II is barely worth the price of its silicon. That’s not to say that charities and schools don’t want them, but don’t be put off if you can’t find someone who will accept an antique.

[li]Storage: This is what you’re after, I think. In most modern computers (yours, for example), storage is done by altering the polarity of microscopic magnetic spots on small platters of metal called `disks.’ Disks reside within disk drives, and they are used for long-term storage of data. Data can reside on a disk drive for decades as long as the drive isn’t magnetized.[/li]
That means you have to explicitly erase data from a disk drive. Telling Windows to delete something doesn’t erase anything. It simply tells Windows to treat the space on the disk occupied by that information as if it were empty, nothing more. There are various programs floating around that overwrite the area on the disk occupied by sensitive information, and they probably perform as advertised. They would certainly prevent the merely curious from reading your stuff, but they’re no match for the dedicated enemy. The dedicated enemy would disassemble the drive and send the platters through sensitive equipment to read the echoes of the information left behind in the little magnetic spots.

For all intents and purposes, assume it impossible to securely erase magnetic media. Your best defense against the FBI or anyone else is a .38 hollowpoint and a nice river. If you’re at all worried about someone reading what’s on the drive, remove it, destroy it, and spring for a new one before giving the computer away.
[/ul]Of course, we’re all here to help if you want anything else. :slight_smile:

15

If you’re unable to donate your PC and wish to throw it away instead, bear in mind that landfill is a bad destination (as others have mentioned above).

It’s best to contact a local environment-related charity or political organisation for their most up-to-date directions to properly dispose of your computer. There may be a local recycling/salvage/waste organisation with a dedicated programme, complete with a pick-up service. For some initial info on the computer disposal issue, try the following segment of a larger news.com article:

http://news.com.com/2009-1040-928488.html

16

Okey-dokey. I’ve saved all the stuff I want off my computer and now I am fixin’ to slap a Wipeinfo on it. Frankly, I think that’s all I need – I’m really not at all paranoid about the info on here. As I said before, none of it is terribly secure and I can’t imagine any hacker dedicated and skilled enough to go under a Wipeinfo type deal bothering to go to the Disabled Vets Thrift Shop in hopes of buying my old computer and recovering my credit card info – which, after Christmas, is going to be pretty close to maxed anyway, right? So, on the day after Christmas, the Disabled Vets are going to carry my old system away, making room for the new. Thanks for the help and I’ll see you all again on Christmas Day!

Jess

17

Leaving stuff that others might want by your trash out back helps a great deal I’d have to say… When we got a new stove, we put the old one out back and by nightfall someone had taken it! Better than the trash service…

18

I recommend donating to a local church or other such organization.

They may or may not be able to use it but my uncle got some used computers from (gag) Focus On the Family for use in his wonderful organization that works with juveniles in detention centers.

While Pent II is outdated for most of us, they still can be used in many places for basic word processing and spreadsheet programs.

19

If one were to load “Shred” onto a PC and use it to eat up everything on the hard drive, how would one then re-load the OS?

20

Louis: From boot disks, like installing a new OS. The PC has code in the BIOS (Basic Input-Output System, the level of software that translates the OS’s commands into commands directly to the hardware) that first tries to load an OS of some kind from the floppy drive, then the CD-ROM drive (if the machine has one), then the hard drive (all of this can be configured while the machine is booting, of course). A boot disk contains a partition that a computer can use to boot the OS on the disk, and generally contains code to install a specific OS on the machine.

A special class of boot disks, called rescue disks, don’t try to install anything on the drive. Instead, they contain a small, self-contained OS plus tools a hacker can use to fix a damaged system. It’s like performing brain surgery on a carrier from a small rowboat.