<p>Now that we have a Mac and a laptop, we have decided to get rid of our old desktop. It’s pretty raggedy looking, but still works OK. </p>
<p>Will probably find a home for it via word of mouth. In the meantime, what should we do to make sure that none of our personal information ends up being passed on with it? I can delete old documents and family photos, but are there any other steps we should take? A couple years ago we disposed of an old computer that was beyond repair, and the people at Geek Squad had us remove the hard drive first. If we did so this time, wouldn’t that ruin the computer for the next person?</p>
<p>Do you have the OS installation disks? You could just reinstall the operating system over the current hard drive. Note that you’d also have to install drivers for any non-standard hardware.</p>
<p>Removing the hard drive wouldn’t necessarily ruin it for the next person. The next person might want to put in their own hard drive that’s faster and has more capacity and uses less power.</p>
<p>Just erasing the info doesnt mean its not there. Ive herd that to get rid of the info you need to then fill the memory up with a bunch of unimportant data to write over the deleted info you dont want anyone to see. I dont know if like BCEagle91 said you can just reinstall the OS and have it do the same thing. Good luck. Peace.</p>
<p>Well, the PCB can probably be recycled. Not sure if it is worth it to do that. The best way to recycle it is to reuse it. We have a very heavy electromagnet at the office that we use to wipe the data off of hard disks. This probably destroys some of the electronics too.</p>
<p>Our state has laws about disposing of electronic waste and the requirements are that they be recycled. There is a company in the area that takes computers and monitors for between $25 and $40. If the computer was built within the last six years, then I would consider reusing it. There are always folks that have minimal computing needs where an older computer would be fine.</p>
<p>Even re-formatting a drive doesn’t necessarily wipe out old info.</p>
<p>What I always do is remove the hard drive, put it in a cardborad box that’s open at the top, take it out to my driveway, and smash it with a sledge hammer. Really - I do this and I’m assured no one will get any lingering info. By the time I get rid of a computer it’s old and the hard drive laughably small compared to the capacity nowadays available at low cost so if someone really wants the computer they can buy a new drive and put it in.</p>
<p>I did a search on the Internet a few months ago to learn this info, and found a helpful website (this was for an Apple computer) that gave instructions for how to wipe the hard drive. In the comment section, people started one-upping each other for ways to destroy the drive. One person recommended using industrial staples, and another suggested smashing it with a sledgehammer. So, ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, either that was you, or you’re not alone.</p>
<p>I’ve used ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad’s method with success. Personal experience indicates the 16 pound stone maul makes quicker work than the 12 pound sledge.</p>
<p>Thank you, all. I guess to be safe we really should remove (and destroy!) the hard drive. There’s nothing racy on the computer (at least I hope not!), but between passwords, account information, and just our own personal family stuff I’d like to avoid the possibility of it ending up who-knows-where. </p>
<p>Now I just have to figure out what and where the hard drive is…</p>
<p>My understanding is that whenever something is saved on a hard drive it is actually stored in about 14-16 different places on the drive. Complete destruction is the only way to go. Save it for a frustrating day and then it will be more fun to throw the sledge hammer down on it. :)</p>
<p>Be a little careful when you smash it because small pieces can go flying hence my use of a cardboard box. You should also use eye protection or at least look away when hitting it and be careful picking up any sharp pieces. It really doesn’t take much of a hit to make the drive useless - a couple of whacks should do it.</p>
<p>If you really want to destroy it, you can drill through the platters, this will render it unusable.</p>
<p>If you format, you need to make sure you do a “hard” format, where every bit on the drive is written and read to make sure that block is functional, this will wipe all data from the drive.</p>
<p>Or you can get drive-wiping software, there are plenty of free programs available. There is a military spec for this, many of these programs conform to it. Google “disk drive wipe software” or something similar.</p>
<p>If the system still has some useful life it would be a shame to destroy it.</p>
<p>I have a five-year-old desktop that I would like to replace. It performs reasonably well in most areas but the one major headache is startup time - about ten minutes. My MacBook Pro starts up in 20 seconds. The main killers are programs checking for updates and the downloading of antivirus and antispyware updates.</p>
<p>The five year old system has a slower bus, a cpu chip that uses far more power than chips that are faster today due to improvements in process technology. I assume that there are several components that use more power today than would an equivalent modern system with the same CPU and graphics power. So I do think of replacing this desktop just for the power and cooling savings. But it still runs and the lazy thing to do is to just keep using it.</p>
<p>I have some old 100 GB and 80 GB notebook drives that require more power than modern drives with higher capacities. Modern drives typically have larger caches with better performance. On those external notebook drives, I often have to use an external power supply or a double USB cable - a pain in the neck.</p>
<p>The thing about technology is that often the new stuff is much better than the old stuff.</p>
<p>It’s really important to do something to destroy it. Once we bought a used computer from a priest who was selling it in a church yard sale. We knew him personally, so we figured it was a good deal. He hadn’t removed anything from the hard drive. Not only was it full of the family’s financial info, it was chock full of all kinds of… pornography. I kid you not. It was classic sicko stuff. I could never look at him or his wife or small kids again. Luckily they moved out of the neighborhood not long after… I am positive this is not your computer’s current condition whatsoever! It’s just an interesting story.</p>
<p>I thought one needs specific knowledge and special tools to recover info from a reformatted (nuked) hard drive that ordinary folks cannot afford to/won’t do. I hope I’m not misinformed.</p>