Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

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Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Tony alony » July 1st, 2016, 6:03 am

Would spraying the insides with cold galvaning compound work to disable any retrieval of data?
I've read that some of the computer recyclers are less than honest. What's the safest way to dispose of old computers?

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Nixnix42 » July 1st, 2016, 6:40 am

I wipe the hard drives then drill holes in them :) everything else is just non memory hardware.


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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by tlinden » July 1st, 2016, 7:18 am

Yeah there is software that will wipe the hard drive properly

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by turf_toes » July 1st, 2016, 9:35 am

Many folks don't realize it, but copy machines have disc drives too. If you have a multi feature printer, that might be an even bigger concern.

I once saw a 60 minutes episode where they purchased 2nd-hand printer/copiers (previously used at hospitals).

They were able to recover thousands of records involving everything from credit card information to insurance and actual patient records.

So be sure to trash that old printer/copier while you are at it.


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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by tlinden » July 1st, 2016, 9:43 am

Yeah I saw that too, pretty crazy!


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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Tony alony » July 1st, 2016, 10:27 am

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I thought about purchasing the disk to wipe the hard drive but decided against it. I read on the web that proficient hackers can circumvent almost all of the wiping disks that consumers can afford. On another web search, I saw that there are hazardous metals inside computers, which is one of the reasons for recycling. Will the cold galvanize paint work, or should I use insulating foam or something else to easily spray on the hard drive and gum it up.

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by andy10917 » July 1st, 2016, 10:35 am

Tony, it is time to consider using the Force. Or make it Hammer Time...

That is, just take a hammer to the disk drive and be done with it. Once the disk won't spin properly, nobody is going to bother with the exotic techniques it would take to read it -- they will look for an easier target. You don't have the secret formula to Coca-Cola on your machine.

And for the most part, recycling is a joke. The low bidder on the recycling bids is often a third-world country that takes the money and piles the material a mile high, just somewhere else.

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Tony alony » July 1st, 2016, 10:52 am

Thanks, Andy. I can't argue with your reasoning, so all I'll say is : http://www.drawnfrommybrain.com/2013/10/25/okey-dokey/

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Destroy a Computer

Post by dfw_pilot » July 1st, 2016, 12:47 pm

Tony, you live in Texas now:


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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by bpgreen » July 1st, 2016, 3:01 pm

I always just pull the hard drive out. I've got a stack of them in my basement.

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by rough-cut » July 3rd, 2016, 8:25 am

I do computer work (own my company). For my clients I remove the hard drive, beat it with a hammer till the case is broken open and show them the guts of the drive. Yes with enough $$$ even a smashed drive "could" have data recovered. But really, is the average persons data worth spending $20,000 plus to a professional data recover data service just to see your website history? I used to do sub-contract work for a major Defense Company. We had to use a special drive wipe software that re-wrote random encrypted code back onto the hard drives 6X to ensure nothing was recoverable. Software is available out there, but a hammer is about $10!

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » July 3rd, 2016, 9:05 am

I like to put a few rounds of 223 through them.

But the hammer works too lol

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by andy10917 » July 3rd, 2016, 9:13 am

But the hammer works too lol
"And this is for the time that you rebooted just before I saved the 43-page MS Word document! And THIS is for the virus scan that lasted for two days! And oh yeah, THIS is for running slow for a month! And THIS is for the 2,387 "reminders" that the machine needs to be upgraded to Windows 10!!"

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » July 3rd, 2016, 9:42 am

I'm less concerned about identity theft than I am about Mrs. HoosierLawnGnome finding out how much time I actually spend on this site. :shock: :sorry:

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Yossarian » July 4th, 2016, 4:26 pm

I'd go with software cleans the drive like http://www.dban.org/ or you can encrypt the drive, which would make it useless as long as you use a really strong decryption passphrase. I would then donate the system to Goodwill or The Salvation Army.

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Tony alony » July 4th, 2016, 6:46 pm

I think I like Andy's "Hammer Time" best because it's so easy.
But I so wanted to be the first to surprise some scoundrel who steals other people's identities.... "Hey!.... We've got ourselves ia first here, seriously..The dude used tar"....Dang!! :confused:

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Abyss » July 4th, 2016, 7:02 pm

The main reason they want your computer is for the gold. The capacitors etc do cause little issues in landfills, but they've taken electronics as trash since they were invented, the sudden change was that they could make money on it. Everything always comes down to money in the trash business


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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Tony alony » July 4th, 2016, 7:20 pm

Abyss wrote:The main reason they want your computer is for the gold. The capacitors etc do cause little issues in landfills, but they've taken electronics as trash since they were invented, the sudden change was that they could make money on it. Everything always comes down to money in the trash business

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Hmmm..Gold!! Maybe I'll just keep them.... I can melt gold in my garage with a potatoe according to this article found on the WWW :yahoo: http://m.wikihow.com/Melt-Gold

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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Abyss » July 4th, 2016, 7:33 pm

Lol, the gold in your computer is worthless to you, but when you melt down 50,000 at a time it becomes worthwhile.

Trash companies used to sell off their landfills to make parks and golf courses, but are no longer doing so. The technology is slowly coming along that they will be able to pull the trash back out of the ground, separate out of it what is worth money very efficiently, and use the rest to create power for communities


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Re: Best Way to Get Rid of Old Computers

Post by Tony alony » July 4th, 2016, 8:16 pm

Abyss wrote:Lol, the gold in your computer is worthless to you, but when you melt down 50,000 at a time it becomes worthwhile.

Trash companies used to sell off their landfills to make parks and golf courses, but are no longer doing so. The technology is slowly coming along that they will be able to pull the trash back out of the ground, separate out of it what is worth money very efficiently, and use the rest to create power for communities


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Ahh, progress! The road to riches! Landfills on every waterway, for shipping purposes, landfills on our interstates,for ease in ground transport, that's what I call progress!

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