Scrapping An Old Pc

[chrissa1]

I have an old PC that I have no room for now. Should I simply take it to my local council re-cycling depot and is there anything sinister that might happen?

It was mainly used by my late husband for his business. Thanks.

[retrocop]

My son always advises me to destroy the hard drive within it before despatching it any where.

[sunny-dave]

Yes - take the hard drive out (or get someone to do so for you) and hit it several times with a very big hammer. Then stick it in your landfill bin.

[sunny-dave]

I mean the hard drive goes in the bin - take the PC to the recyclers as you have said.

[chrissa1]

How do I get to the hard drive?

[VHG]

If it was used to run a business then it may have personal or financial information on it (his or other peoples) so you can't dump it as is.

As others have said you need to wipe the hard drive. There is software around that you or someone else can use to wipe the hard drive or take it out and smash it up.

[retrocop]

the last hard drive I removed looked like a VHS video cassette in size with a visible DVD disc inside it. Quite heavy and usuall has a plug into it with wires attached. It is accessed by removing a few screws from outside the tower.
Best someone you can trust to do it for you if you are not sure.

[VHG]

Getting to the hard drive depends if it is a desktop PC or laptop. If you don't know what to do get local neighbour to help you. It will be easy for anyone who has any computer knowledge.

[retrocop]

This should show how to do it.

[retrocop]

More illustrations on what hard drives look like and demonstration with a hammer how to destroy them.
The hard drive stores all the information and should not fall into the wrong hands as personal information can be obtained from them especially personal finances (on-line banking etc)

[chrissa1]

Thanks retrocop. I'll get my son to help me. Cheers.

[atalanta]

I have just had the same problem. Fortunately I have a very techie son, who ran some ( free) software to strip everything - but Everything, off it. The stripping took five hours, but the machine is now in the recycling centre.