Getting rid of old computer.

[leigh1050]

I bought a new computer on line and was wondering what to do with the old one!
Last time I bought one I got it from PC World and they took out the hard drive and got rid of the rest I sent the hard drive to the bottom of the Channel.

[AlexC1981]

If your new computer has space inside you might be able to fit your old hard drive in it to use as extra storage space.

Or buy a usb caddy for the old drive and use it for file backup. There are file shredder programmes you can download that will overwrite the old data a number of times to make it unrecoverable.

Or you could drill a hole or two all the way through the hard drive, which would destroy it.

If your old PC is too old to be of any value, stick it on ebay auction as collection only, spares and repairs. Someone might have a use for some part of it.

[Derek Smith]

I normally merely upgrade my existing desktop piecemeal, so it's just a case of discarding specific items.

I've recently bought a new CPU, mobo and new memory. Rather than throw the old stuff away, I've put it in the loft and, if, for any reason, my main one goes down, I've got a fully functioning one available as a temporary expedient.

I normally recycle SSDs/HDDs. I keep one as a replacement C drive and the others I keep as backup. I've recently replaced a 3TB with a 6TB and have put the 3TB in a caddy for data, mainly personal, data backup.

I've given old laptops to charities in the past. It's easy enough to shred the HDDs using free software. It can take a bit of time, but it does eradicate everything and saves throwing anything away. I gave an old Linux one to a local school and the IT teacher loved it as she could show students that Windows and Mac are not the only operating systems.

[FourWheelDrift]

Take it apart and sell the parts separately on Ebay.

motherboard
CPU
RAM
Graphics card

Keep the PSU, good to have a backup.

Forget about the case it'll probably cost more for postage.

[snuffy]

FourWheelDrift said:

Take it apart and sell the parts separately on Ebay.

motherboard
CPU
RAM
Graphics card

Under no circumstances sell those parts one Ebay. The buyer will claim the parts they bought does not work/never arrived or some other ste. My advice is to eat those parts as it will be a more pleasurable experience than selling PC parts on Ebay.

[Evoluzione]

Drop it off at your local Currys.

[Who me ?]

If you drop the hard drive from high enough, then it's a cert that all the data is irrecoverable.

[boyse7en]

Do a search to see if any local charities could make use of it.
I gave my old one to a local charity that sent them to schools in Gambia.

[FourWheelDrift]

snuffy said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Take it apart and sell the parts separately on Ebay.

motherboard
CPU
RAM
Graphics card

Under no circumstances sell those parts one Ebay. The buyer will claim the parts they bought does not work/never arrived or some other ste. My advice is to eat those parts as it will be a more pleasurable experience than selling PC parts on Ebay.

Rubbish, I've done it. If it's old gear only people interested in old gear will even search for it. All 21 things put on and sold this year, no returns.

Good packing and I always used Royal Mail tracked delivery requiring a signature.

[roadsmash]

FourWheelDrift said:

snuffy said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Take it apart and sell the parts separately on Ebay.

motherboard
CPU
RAM
Graphics card

Under no circumstances sell those parts one Ebay. The buyer will claim the parts they bought does not work/never arrived or some other ste. My advice is to eat those parts as it will be a more pleasurable experience than selling PC parts on Ebay.

Rubbish, I've done it. If it's old gear only people interested in old gear will even search for it.

+1

[leigh1050]

Thanks for the replies, I'll probably take it to Curry's/PCWorld and get them to take out the hard drive and they can do what they want with the rest.

[Skyedriver]

Threw the last hard drive onto the garden bonfire. Didn't seem to work after that...

[LordGrover]

Whoever sold you the new one should be able to take the old one and recycle it.
Click.