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22 August 2010

Got new computer! Woo-hoo! What should I do with the old one?[More:]

Seriously, what do YOU do with your old computer? Mine's nine years old, and I assume no one will want it. Obviously I can recycle the monitor and computer itself, but shouldn't I be erasing the hard drive first? Do I have to uninstall all programs from it? Apply a magnet or sledgehammer to it? Thanks for your tips!
See if there's a local school or library that would take it.

And yes, do something to the drive that meets Secure Erase standards, possibly Boot & Nuke. Warning, though, DBAN is not necessarily ideal for the noob.
posted by tortillathehun 22 August | 12:38
Is there a GoodWill computer center near you that takes donations?
posted by octothorpe 22 August | 13:35
I have 3 old hard drives, which I erased first, on a shelf in my garage. As technology advances, even DoD erasure standards may not be any good. Or maybe they will.

But I always donate or recycle old machines, sans hard drive.
posted by danf 22 August | 15:15
Iconomy really really wants to know what kind of computer you got.
posted by danf 22 August | 15:15
I got a new one last week, too! It's this one. It's a nice middle-of-the-road gaming PC.

The mister is using my old one (five years old) for his at home work computer (he's using it to VPN to his work PC). He also got a new computer, the same one I got. I dunno what he's doing with his old one (a home-made one, even older than my old one). I think he may set it up as a server. In any case, he is going to set them back to factory settings before he does anything else with them.

What he's done in the past, with old PCs, is clean them up and give them to Luddite friends just getting into computers.
posted by deborah 22 August | 17:07
One cold, sunny morning in September 1998, || #FirstWorldProblems

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