Calling all techies - help required

[Amy]

Need to get rid of an old computer or two

How do I remove the hard drives?
And how do I get rid of what's left? Charities, recycling?

[Andrew G]

Not a techie but even I've managed it.
Unscrew case and remove.
Pull ribbon cable out back of hard drive.
Undo any screws that hold the hard drive in place (maybe a metal strap).
Take out hard drive and smash repeatedly with a hammer.
Put case back on computer.
Take everything to the dump.

Old PCs don't seem to be wanted by anyone as they move on so quickly. The dump recycles them so the bits end up as something else which is better than just landfill.

[Bo-Gilly]

I'm led to believe that data can still be retrieved from a hard drive even if it's been smashed with a hammer, although not easily obviously.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... -an-old-pc

[Andrew G]

If someone wanted to dig the drive out the bottom of the dump's container to spend ages working through a smashed up reformatted disc to find an old letter or web cookie they were welcome to. Nothing naughty or top secret hidden on there.

[Amy]

Thanks for that, Andrew, but I'm a girl, these things don't come easily to me

Plan to keep the hard drive and use a docking station just in case I need anything on the old pc or transfer over some stuff I like.