Discarding old computers

[zxcvbob]

I'm cleaning out my computer junk, and the church's old computer junk.  Old enough equipment to be worthless, not old enough to be "antiques".  I'm looking for the cheapest way to properly recycle it.

How about this: 

• Take the CRT's to Best Buy and pay $10 for disposal (there's only one or two CRT's)
• Take the systems apart; keep the power supplies, wipe the hard drives, take the motherboards out and any other electronics out and recycle that.
• The empty chassis (sp?) can go in the garbage.

[Scout26]

I could use a new hard drive for my desktop computer.  The one in it seized up.

[zxcvbob]

I could use a new hard drive for my desktop computer.  The one in it seized up.

What interface, IDE? (these are all pretty small by today's standards, the PC's are at least 10 years old; some are pushing 20)

[Brad Johnson]

BB wants you to pay them to haul it off?  Nuh-uh!  Look for an electronics recycler near you.  At the very least they will take it for free.  Some recycling centers will also take electronics now.

Brad

[Gewehr98]

I've got a few IDE drives sitting in the computer parts pile here, Scout.

Let me know what you need...

[bedlamite]

Wipe hard drives, ad on craigslist for free computer stuff; must pick up and take all.

[Balog]

I'd pull and physically destroy the hard drives, other than that what bedlamite said. Also, some recyclers pay for old computers for scrap, I know Pacific Iron in Seattle does. Not sure about CRT monitors.

[BobR]

I pull the hard drive out of mine and take the rest to Goodwill. Here, they are the electronic recycler of choice. I have one sitting now awaiting its fate at goodwill.

bob

[K Frame]

I usually wipe my old hard drives with a .357

[bedlamite]

I usually wipe my old hard drives with a .357

"Sorry, don't have any spare hard drives, they're all shot"

[roo_ster]

Freecycle FTW, after a session with a linux live CD to wipe the HD.

[AZRedhawk44]

Shatter the platter.  I favor rifle rounds for this.

Drop the rest at Goodwill.  

[Hawkmoon]

Do they still work? I recycle old computers by wiping the hard drive, reinstalling the operating system, loading up a version of Star Office (or whatever the newest variant is of that) and donating it through my church to a family that can't afford to buy a computer.

[Tallpine]

After a year or two of sitting, my old tower refused to boot.  Says it has no hard drives 

Not worth trying to figure out.  I was keeping all these old towers for parts but now I'm using laptops.

I need a crusher 

[MechAg94]

The local Best Buy here will take up to 3 tube TV's per day per person for free.  Not sure about old computer monitors or computers.

[vaskidmark]

Goodwill around here takes old computers.  Not to resell, but to recover precious metals - individually there is not enough scrap precious metal to make it worth kicking off a cliff but in bulk there is enough money to make it worthwhile for Goodwill, the smelter, and whoever else is in the chain.

Besides, Goodwill disposes of the parts that are not sent for recovery.  There is some money in that as well.

Get a receipt.  Use it to offset the Obamacare ACA tax.

stay safe.

[Perd Hapley]

I don't understand all the hard drive murder, when a lot of people could still use an 80 or 40-gig hard drive. Wiping a hard drive with free software (like Boot and Nuke) is ridiculously easy. Is the risk of someone getting your hard drive, and somehow recreating sensitive personal data really all that great?

[TechMan]

Staples will take up to six items a day per person free of charge.  Here is their page:  http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/easy-on-the-planet/recycling-and-eco-services.html

[zxcvbob]

Staples will take up to six items a day per person free of charge.  Here is their page:  http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/easy-on-the-planet/recycling-and-eco-services.html

Thank you!  That will save me some work and a little money.  I'll just pull the peripherals out, and haul all the carcasses to Staples.  Might take 2 trips.  That's even easier than sneaking the motherboards and stuff into my company's technology-waste bins.

[TechMan]

Thank you!  That will save me some work and a little money.  I'll just pull the peripherals out, and haul all the carcasses to Staples.  Might take 2 trips.  That's even easier than sneaking the motherboards and stuff into my company's technology-waste bins.

So easy the easy button would hit itself.  I have gotten rid of all of my company's e-waste this way.  A word of advice, familiarize yourself with the Staples e-waste website, because some of the associates are not familiar with the program.  I just go in get a cart, go out to my car and load up and then bring it in.  I have had some try to tell me they only took 5 items, when I said your website says 6 items, they would go "Okay" and take the 6 items.

[HankB]

I pull the hard drive out of mine and take the rest to Goodwill. Here, they are the electronic recycler of choice . . .

Same here.

A couple of years ago I took an old TV to BB for recycling & disposal . . . IIRC, they charged me a nominal fee, but they gave me a BB gift card equivalent to that fee. So as long as I was going to buy something there anyway, it worked out OK.

To expand on the recycling theme, small items (CFL bulbs?) I would mail to the nearest politician who voted to mandate recycling. Preferably with postage due. 

[Gewehr98]

Goodwill around here takes old computers.  Not to resell, but to recover precious metals - individually there is not enough scrap precious metal to make it worth kicking off a cliff but in bulk there is enough money to make it worthwhile for Goodwill, the smelter, and whoever else is in the chain.

Yes and no to the above.

If it's not worth selling, they'll scrap it for the gold.  They cherry-pick what comes in the door.

Otherwise, it ends up on Goodwill's online auction site. (Where I buy my Nikon lenses, etc.)

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/Dell-Dimension-521-1BG-Ram-Desktop-WWindows-7-In-14878740.html

[Scout26]

What interface, IDE? (these are all pretty small by today's standards, the PC's are at least 10 years old; some are pushing 20)

Acer Aspire.  It was running Win XP, IIRC.  I'd like to set it up so Robert can use for homework.  I'll see what I find when I dissect it tomorrow.

[never_retreat]

Dumpster at work.
Not worth scrap unless you have a ton.

[Scout26]

Wow, there's a lot of dust !!!

Anywho. 

Western Digital WD1600. 
WD Caviar SE Serial ATA Harddrive
Drive parameters LBA 312581808 *  160.0GB.
MDL: WD1600JS-22MHB0
Date: 17 Oct 2005
DCM: DSBHNTJAH

Warning use either a SATA Power or Legacy Power connector.  Do not use both which may result in damage to the hard drive.   (It used the serial data connector and the legacy power connector.)