# old computers



## frank b (Nov 5, 2003)

I want to donate my old computers to goodwill. How do I wipe them clean of all items I had on them?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Remove the hard drive, whack it with a hammer, and throw it in the trash. Hard drives are cheap because they're hardly used anymore (in favor of ssd's). It's not as big if a deal to not include a hard drive as you might think.


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## frank b (Nov 5, 2003)

Nevada said:


> Remove the hard drive, whack it with a hammer, and throw it in the trash. Hard drives are cheap because they're hardly used anymore (in favor of ssd's). It's not as big if a deal to not include a hard drive as you might think.


what are the hard drives on this old dell?


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## wil14 (Sep 13, 2020)

frank b said:


> what are the hard drives on this old dell?


It looks like you have 3 there that need removed. The bottom one looks like it is a bluray or dvd drive. There may be 4 above it, can't tell


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## frank b (Nov 5, 2003)

Once I take them out, smash them, where do I dispose of them? Is it safe to put in regular garbage?


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Please do not destroy the hard drives. Yes, they're cheap, but old computers are basically worthless without them. Besides, it's completely unnecessary; all you need to do is delete your data and, if you're paranoid or there actually is banking info or something like that on them, use one of the many free utilities that will wipe the free space to permanently remove your data. I'd recommend either Bleachbit or CCleaner because they're what I'm familiar with, but a web search will turn up many others. If you're going to remove and destroy the hard drive, you might as well just throw away the whole computer.


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## altair (Jul 23, 2011)

Do you know if they're functional? I ask because some older models can't handle the newer requirements of programs, internet, etc. 

In Vermont there's free recycling for computers and their components-- transfer stations actually get paid a bit for them.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Take the old drives apart to salvage the magnets, then burn the disc.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

How is is old? what are the specs? Most "to old" computer are just that to old for anything usable. I would never provide a laptop with a computer I would donate. Take it out, smash it run it through the drill press a few times and throw it away.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

Yes, pull the drives. Once removed, either use them for target practice, smash with a hammer, drill some holes through the platters, something. 

I wouldn't include a drive with a computer being sold or given away. Even if one thinks they have deleted their data - it can still be there.

At work we run our regular drives through a massive degausser and then it immediately goes into another machine that crushes the drive. If it is an ssd or a flash drive - we take the drive apart, get out the components and run them through a type of shredder. It doesn't really shred, but more or less makes a fine type of "sand". Gotta love making sure that something isn't recoverable. 

Also, sometimes you can find a business in your local area that offers drive destruction. but that is costlier than destroying it yourself.


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## frank b (Nov 5, 2003)

I took the hard drives out, opened them up and bent the disc inside. I than took the rest to goodwill. It is an old dell computer with a 15 gig hard drive. It is about 20 years old. I was using it for a backup computer but my daughter gave me her HP computer that she was not using.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Posted 2/1/21 10:12 PM CST

On old hard drives, I run multiple wipe overwrites and deep low deep formats before partitioning and reloading an O/S as we were required to deep clean PCs we were repurposing within our plant. A deep wipe , full format and installing a freeshare O/S reload is time consuming but gives a repurposed PC a new life.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

There are may tools that will actually erase and overwrite all the existing data on a drive like: Safe Erase.


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

Local Goodwill won't take computers. I wipe drives with a bootable disk that allows a drive wipe, there are a ton of them out there.

Basically, old computers aren't worth anything at thrift stores. Some companies take them and recycle, but they want tons of them, not one or two. Wipe the drive and put an ad in your local FreeCycle group.

Jeff


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