June 11, 2008

Getting Rid of Old PCs

Filed under: Main — Tags: , — admin @ 12:01 am

One of my readers recently e-mailed me this question:

Can you recommend a safe way of disposing of old computers? Not just for security reasons, but for the environment as well?


Regarding security, the key issue with a computer is the hard drive. That’s the gold mine for the data thieves. In fact, a stolen laptop is more often purloined for its hard drive than for the quick re-sale. Data on the hard drive could yield bank account numbers, passwords, even a rich
source of information for corporate espionage. So a key to being safe is to remove the hard drive.

I keep my “recent old” computers around in a rack in my garage. I call it the “bone yard.” Before being put up in the bone yard, however, I remove and save the computer’s hard drive. I currently have about a dozen of them, some of which are so old that no computer today could read them!

The hard drives must be destroyed to ensure that no data can be read from them. Not thrown away. Not erased. Not burned. Destroyed.

Experts in data recovery explain that it’s next to impossible to fully remove information from a computer’s hard drive. You can use software like Norton’s Wipe Disk, or other programs that are government-certified to fully remove data. But the nature of electronic information storage is such that some remnants of information always remains.

The only exception I’ve made for destroying a hard drive is when donating an old computer to a charity. As long as I know the charity and trust the folks involved, I don’t mind giving them a computer with a hard drive intact, but restored: I wipe the hard drive clean using Norton’s Wipe Disk, then I reformat it and re-install the operating system and all programs licensed to that computer, such as Microsoft Office.

Under no circumstances would I donate a computer with a hard drive intact to an unknown charity or drop it off at the Good Will.

Regarding recycling, the first thing to check is with the computer’ s manufacturer. Some computers can be returned to the original hardware company, where they will be recycled or disposed of in the best manner possible. HP and Dell offer a recycling service.

Otherwise, check with the refuse company or your local government to see what the rules are regarding disposal. There is money to be made recovering things like gold, plastic, zinc, and old RAM chips from computers. Consider yourself fortunate if you live in an area that offers such a thing.

9 Comments

  1. Was it a dream I had, or did I read somewhere that you shoot your hard drives?

    Comment by Douglas — June 11, 2008 @ 2:00 am

  2. Yes. I take them out and use them for target practice. Video to come soon! 🙂

    Comment by admin — June 11, 2008 @ 8:43 am

  3. Looking forward to that! 😀

    Comment by jamh51 — June 11, 2008 @ 11:49 am

  4. I belong to a gun club here in town. The weather is *almost* there for going out to the range and shooting. The club is “up in them thar hills” and it’s still quite cold in my neck of the woods. (48 today, that’s 9 for you celsius people.) When I do, I’ll bring the video camera. That should be fun.

    Comment by admin — June 11, 2008 @ 11:52 am

  5. It’s getting cold here, it was 0 celcius the other morning! And it was cold and foggy and I really didn’t want to get out of bed. Anyway, that video will be muchly interesting, can’t wait! Do you remove the actual platters and use those, or do you just fling ’em and shoot ’em as they are?

    Comment by Douglas — June 18, 2008 @ 2:34 am

  6. I tried pulling out the platters, but it’s a pain and takes too much time. I just line up the drive units on a plank and take ’em down.

    Comment by admin — June 18, 2008 @ 8:57 am

  7. Douglas: In some Windows for Dummies book, or some other …For Dummies book, Andy Rathbone says “(something) Dan Gookin, author of PC’s For Dummies, shoots his old drives with a shotgun”

    Comment by linuxlove — July 17, 2008 @ 9:43 am

  8. (Continiued from last comment) Some of those old drives may be really valuble to some people.

    Comment by linuxlove — July 17, 2008 @ 9:44 am

  9. Tsk, tsk. Not a shotgun. That wouldn’t be sporting! 😛

    Comment by dang — July 17, 2008 @ 4:03 pm

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