How to safely dispose of old laptop

[Marie5656]

I have bought a new laptop. Once I am assured that all documents and stuff are transferred, what is the best, safest way to dispose of the old one? How to I assure private info is safely removed ? Should I remove the hard drive?

 

[JBR]

I have bought a new laptop. Once I am assured that all documents and stuff are transferred, what is the best, safest way to dispose of the old one? How to I assure private info is safely removed ? Should I remove the hard drive?

When this happened a couple years ago with my old & new ones, the shop I took it to knew my needs & intention. They removed my old harddrive. They gave it to me to destroy, in whatever fashion I chose. The new laptop has an SSD (solid state drive).

 

[Pinky]

Yep .. we always remove the hard drive before taking it to the recycle depot.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Remove the hard drive and get rid of each separately.

 

[ArnoldC]

Dell supposedly accepts old PC's and laptops for recycling. Unable to find a link on how to do that at their website. Stuck with old stuff taking up space. Considering just chucking the whole works by stuffing in with grass clippings on trash day.

Yeah, I know. It's bad for the environment. But what the heck else am I to do?

 

[kburra]

HDD (Hard Disk Drive):

• For HDDs, use the following steps:
  • Windows Method:
    • Open Disk Manager (right-click the Windows icon and select “Disk Manager”).
    • Choose the drive you want to format.
    • Uncheck “Perform a quick format” and select NTFS as the file system.
    • Format the drive three times to ensure complete data removal 1.
  • Third-Party Tools:
    • Use tools like DBAN (Darik’s Boot and Nuke) to overwrite data with random patterns.
      I Use DBAN free version. Darik’s Boot and Nuke – DBAN

 

[DaveA]

Anyone own a welding torch ?

 

[Lawrence00]

Need
1. Very small screwdriver likely Phillips.
2. One burlap sack.
3. One sledgehammer.
4. One memory of that time he ...
5. Pancake the hard drive.

When removing hard drives for recycling you need not care about damaging cables, so most people can do it. Your specific model might have a youtube video to also teach removal.

 

[C50]

I remove the hard drive and crush it in a vise, but I always save the neodymium magnet, those suckers are strong.

 

[JBR]

Anyone own a welding torch ?

I do. It would make a lot of probably noxious fumes out of a h.d.. But I do think that many do-it-yourselfers would probably have one or more type of saws that could cut a hard drive in half, and even smaller pieces.

 

[kburra]

Why all the silly answers to a serious question, but then again it takes all sorts I suppose

 

[davey]

bored old people need fun - why not?

 

[Lawrence00]

 

[kburra]

bored old people need fun - why not?

Ok, each to their own, but just seems childish to me, and yes I do have a good sense of humour but at the right time and place.

 

[davey]

if you are determining the "right time and place" they may not be suitable for the rest of us??

 

[kburra]

if you are determining the "right time and place" they may not be suitable for the rest of us??

Well could always try the HUMOR section, and not Computers and phones for jokes?, just a thought.

​

 

[Teacher Terry]

Staples will take old computers to recycle and you don’t need to pay a fee.

 

[Rich]

Ccleaner is a free download that includes a drive wiper, you can choose to wipe just the free space or the entire drive.

 

[Keith9010*]

So far I haven't had to. I have several and one for 14 years now and still working. I suppose when it finally goes, I'll keep it around for sentimental reasons.

 

[Mike]

I would start by formatting the HDD, 3 times, as kburra, suggests,
then remove it, you can do what you like with it then.

Use CCleaner, or maybe another AV that wipes the disk for you.

Mike.