This is how I disposed of an old laptop today.

[Ruth n Jersey]

I had a very old laptop sitting around and I'm always afraid someone is going to retrieve info from it even if I give it to the places that recycle them. I couldn't get it apart either.

I was out by my garden today and noticed a ground hog hole under my shed. I thought what a perfect place to put the laptop. It will be years before someone takes down the shed. I brought the thing out to the shed,hit it a few times with a hammer,opened it up and slid it right into the ground hog hole. A perfect fit. I guess the environmentalists will shudder but now maybe the ground hog will stay away and I doubt he knows how to get any info from it.

 

[Geezerette]

Hilarious! Thanks for sharing. Makes me think that when whatever some "device" of mine goes bad next, I'll just get a shovel & take it for a nice ride into the country.

 

[Rosemarie]

Now we know where old laptops go when they die.

 

[Wren]

I soaked my old laptop in hot water and bleach overnight then put it in a skip full of rubbish

 

[Linda]

I have a laptop in a bottom drawer in our bedroom. I bought it in 2009 and I think it's given up the ghost. I can't bare to let it go as it's been my all time favorite computer and we've traveled all over the country with it. It was with me during my lowest points and some of my high points. I feel like I'm using this drawer in my dresser like a drawer at the morgue. After reading all your posts here I know it's time for me to let this one go. Someone I know who lived way up in the mountains took his out in a field and shot it with a shot gun. I hope he cleaned up the mess when he was done.

I'll let you know what I do with mine, when I finally work up the nerve to do it.

 

[Aunt Bea]

 

[Linda]

I love that Aunt Bea!!

 

[hollydolly]

LOL..that made me laugh Ruth, I was just visualising it....

Have you seen the latest fad in headstones btw?>.....

 

[Mike]

In years to come some archeologist will find it
and the area will get called Ruth's Patch or
something like that and your name will be very
famous, if they get it open.

Mike.

 

[Ken N Tx]

Time capsule???

 

[Camper6]

My first thought? A bit of overkill.

Just take out the hard drive and give the laptop to a charity outlet.

People can use the parts. Recycle wherever possible. But you have your own landfill. L.O.L.

 

[JustBonee]

I used to think that a large powerful magnet used on a hard drive would wipe it clean .. hearing that's not really the case.
There is software that will scramble your hard drive, or write over the contents though.

 

[Grampa Don]

Since you couldn't take it apart, I think you did the right thing. I always physically destroy hard drives before junking computers. Soaking a hard drive in something won't help. They are sealed air tight. And a magnet strong enough to work is probably something you don't have. Heat will erase the disks, but also melt any plastic parts. There is software that will erase everything if you want to trust it.

Don

 

[Tommy]

We've never had to dispose of a laptop. All of ours belonged to our employers, save one which I gave to my son. Before getting rid of a laptop, it would be wise to remove the NiCd or lithium battery and drop it off at a recycling center.

With towers, I remove and destroy the hard drives and drop the rest off at a place that will pay a few bucks for them. They, in turn, remove the parts that contain precious metals (which they sell to a recovery company in Scandinavia) and sell the steel for scrap.