Disposing of old computer

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silverback
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Disposing of old computer

Post by silverback »

My old computer has to go. It was purchased in Feb 2007 and runs Windows XP and Office 2003. It still works OK so I have the perennial questions :
> what should I do to clean it up/remove personal data before its disposal?
> how should I then get rid of it?

Any tips and hints gratefully received.

Thanks
Silverback

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HansV
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Re: Disposing of old computer

Post by HansV »

Would you like to donate the computer to a charity or similar in working condition?
You could create a new account with administrator permissions, then delete your old user account.
Uninstall programs that you don't want the recipient to use.
Use a utility such as CCleaner to remove remaining temporary files etc.
You can also use CCleaner to overwrite free space so that "undelete" utilities such as Recuva cannot retrieve deleted files.

If you want to get rid of the computer altogether, you could format the hard disk. Or destroy it with a hammer... :evilgrin:
I assume that your parish will have a place to safely dump electronics.
Best wishes,
Hans

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stuck
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Re: Disposing of old computer

Post by stuck »

If the machine is going to leave your control then the very best way to ensure no data leaves as well is to remove the hard drive and physicaly destroy it, a BIG hammer will do the job nicely.

If the disk is a SSD a big hammer is the only real way to be absolutely sure but if the disk is a traditional HDD, the next best thing is to get a copy of DBANand wipe the disk with that.

Ken

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BobH
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Re: Disposing of old computer

Post by BobH »

Wouldn't a good sharp bit and a power drill easily destroy an SSD?
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stuck
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Re: Disposing of old computer

Post by stuck »

Yup, :thumbup: Bob

:whisper: There's always a pedant around when you need one :evilgrin:

Ken

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HansV
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Re: Disposing of old computer

Post by HansV »

stuck wrote: :whisper: There's always a pedant around when you need one :evilgrin:
That's the Lounge for you! :clapping:
Best wishes,
Hans