Most appropriate way for trashing old computer?

May 11, 2007 11:11 PM

How do I properly dispose of my computer?

It's old and I'm not sure how to reformat it (no longer have installation disks). I know I can't just put it out on the curb, right? So, what is the "right" way to trash your old desktop computer?

posted by skepticallypleased to Grab Bag (11 answers total)

First: Wipe the disk drive of all personal data. (Someone other than me will explain how to do this much better than I can).

Second: List the computer in the free stuff section of craislist.org. Someone will happily collect it shortly.
posted by shanevsevil at 11:21 PM on May 11, 2007

List of NJ Dept of Environmental Protection approved facilities for recycling of consumer electronics.
posted by youngergirl44 at 11:23 PM on May 11, 2007

Someone other than me will attempt to explain how to do this much better than I can.

Download DBAN.
Make boot disk (details on site).
Reboot computer with disk in drive and bios set to boot from disk.
Start program.
Wait...
posted by philomathoholic at 11:40 PM on May 11, 2007

The EPA has a list of donation programs--I'd suggest going to one of these if the Craigslist approach doesn't work. Even an old computer can still be very useful to someone.

Follow philomathaholic's instructions for wiping the disk first, of course.
posted by moss at 2:02 AM on May 12, 2007

Response by poster: I guess you guys are right -- it's a Pentium III and I even have XP on it. Still, you would think governments could make recycling it a bit easier. I would give it to the local Salvation Army but they are no longer accepting computers.
posted by skepticallypleased at 4:35 AM on May 12, 2007

You could try to give it away via http://www.freecycle.org/.
posted by Kevin S at 5:52 AM on May 12, 2007

Locally (San Diego), we have a recycling program that regularly stages collection drives for monitors, PCs, printers, and other electronics. You might Google up " PC recycling" and see if you obtain any hits.
posted by SPrintF at 10:50 AM on May 12, 2007

Just put it on the curb works fine in most neighbourhoods. On my street, anything of any value is gone in hours (that's about how long it takes me to get to it :P).

Give a little thought to how old it is, if it was new after 2000, you will have lots of people after it. If it is 10 years old, it's pretty much scrap metal.
posted by Chuckles at 12:03 PM on May 12, 2007

Plenty of people will go after a Pentium III. Craigslist or Freecycle it.
posted by neckro23 at 1:37 PM on May 12, 2007

If you're worried about private data still on the hard drive, don't gamble with trying to wipe it. Take the drive out of of the machine and smash it with a hammer.
posted by Gamblor at 3:00 PM on May 12, 2007

A quick googling reveals plenty of New Jersey-based computer recycling centers. I volunteered at one here in the Bay Area and I'd highly endorse the service. Chances are that they will offer a disk-wiping service, but they may charge for it. You'd be best off wiping the hard drive yourself just to be sure. For the ultra-paranoid, take a drill to the hard drive (or a hammer, as Gamblor suggests).

Look around though, as some may appeal to you more than others. There are e-waste recyclers here who donate the money to breast cancer or other charities, the one I volunteered at refurbished the donated computers and gave them to needy schools and third-world countries (I've fixed computers that went to Afghanistan, Brazil, Chile and a mess of other countries).

Always, always, please for the love of God take your CRT monitors and televisions to a recycling center. There's nast stuff in there that doesn't need to be working its way into the ground. I know you didn't ask about that specifically, but it's an important issue that a lot of people don't consider.
posted by lekvar at 4:23 PM on May 12, 2007