Repurpose Your Old Computer
Often, components or even entire computers can be repurposed for another function. An old storage drive can be wiped and made into an external drive, either for backups or extra storage. An old computer can turn into a home server, allowing you to connect home electronics like streaming devices to your network.;
Tv Recycling Is Possible
Televisions are larger electronics, so it might take a bit more elbow grease to get the job done, but don’t let that intimidate you. As with donating and recycling phones and laptops, there are a few things you need to know about getting rid of an old TV. If the set still works, consider donating it to a secondhand store.
If you’re able to restore it to factory settings, do so for smart TVs that are likely to contain personal information. Unplug everything, bundle the cords neatly and tape them to the unit. Use a dolly and be careful while you’re moving the TV — the potentially toxic materials in the TV could release into your house if you drop it.
A Google search will show a number of local recycling and donation centers that accept larger electronics. Best Buy, for example, allows customers to drop off their TVs in-store to be recycled for;$30 per item. Best Buy will also pick up TVs for recycle from your house for $30 when a replacement is being delivered by Geek Squad or Best Buy Home Delivery. If there’s no accompanying delivery, the pickup will cost $100.
Never throw old phones in the trash.
Keep Track Of Which Systems Have Been Decommissioned
Make sure you have clear, physical indicators of whether a system has been fully decommissioned in a secure manner and that they don’t consist of something easily misplaced or overlooked like a sticky note. It’s best if computers that haven’t been fully decommissioned are kept in a specific location, while decommissioned equipment goes somewhere else, so that habits you develop will help you avoid making mistakes. For instance, perhaps workstations should be kept on desks and servers in racks until they’re cleared . Doing so can lend a sense of urgency to the need to securely decommission the equipment, too, because you’ll feel the pressure of wanting to clear the space for other uses.
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How To Dispose Of Your Laptop Securely In 4 Steps
Have you decided to get rid of your old computer because it was not performing as well as the good days, or you needed an upgrade over a machine that did not completely fulfil your requirements, but you know that just throwing it in the bin is not the best idea? You are in the right place. Many think that a laptop with a dead battery or that wont turn on is safe to get rid of; truth be told, people with the right skillset and wrong intentions can still be able to access the stored data, in case youre not careful on the way you dispose of it.
Smart Ways To Destroy A Hard Drive
There are plenty of reasons why you would want to destroy your hard drive. But for most folks, itâs for data security. Our gadgets contain sensitive information like credit card details and home addresses. You wouldnât want these in the wrong hands.
If our information can now be easily taken online, what more in a physical format? Especially today, with up-to-date equipment and advanced AI programs, even a hard disk thatâs been reformatted can have its innermost secrets revealed.
So what do you do when youâre upgrading your equipment and you need your files erased for good? Here are the best ways to destroy a hard drive for your peace of mind.
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Things You Should Do To Securely Dispose Of Computers
The need for good security practices doesn’t go away just because a system has outlived its usefulness. These tips will help ensure that decommissioned equipment doesn’t pose a threat.
Even in the best of times, computers are rotated out of use and we have to figure out how we should dispose of them. In a recession economy, people get laid off, systems running software with high licensing costs are decommissioned, and system breakdowns lead to consolidation of functionality rather than repairs. This may increase the rate at which we dispose of computer equipment — and it can increase the expose us to security threats if we aren’t careful about how we do it. Take the following list of tips for secure equipment disposal to heart.
Note: This article originally appeared as an entry in our IT Security blog. It is also available as a .
Have You Ever Destroyed A Laptop
In summary, it’s important to keep an eye on the small details. Otherwise, your laptop could die a slow death through damage to the hinges, hard drive, exterior, or other components. Even seemingly minor actions, like dropped food crumbs getting underneath the keyboard, can cause serious problems over time.
You’ll read stories of people dropping their laptop in a pool, or spilling a drink on it, or knocking it off a fourth-story balcony. Such tragedies do happen. But dramatic accidents are not how most damage occurs. Laptops often fail due to a combination of small mistakes, some of which may have no consequences at first.
While we’ve focused on major laptop damage here, don’t forget that you should take care of your laptop’s battery over time, too.
Image Credit: alphaspirit/Shutterstock
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Dispose Of The Hard Drive Correctly And In Compliance With Local Disposal And Recycling Laws
Most rubbish tips have a section for recycling old electronic parts. Check in your local area for the closest tip near you that does so, as well as the local recycling laws about waste electronics.
There are also lots of businesses that will take your waste electronics and recycle/reuse them for you . These companies generally work with local IT companies or even export the hardware to less developed areas where they can be put back to good use.
Got too much data to feasibly shred it yourself? RecycleIT offer a fully secure and on and off site data shredding service.
Choose RecycleIT for help with laptop recycling and disposal
Do you have old laptops ready for disposal?; Get in touch and let us RECYCLEIT in a responsible way, leave us a message online.
It doesnt matter if its just one laptop, or a warehouse full of them that are in need of responsible disposal, RecycleIT are here to help. Give us a quick ring on and our friendly experts will handle the rest.
For Your Own Safety Avoid Diy Laptop Hard Drive Destruction Methods
The truth is that there are some DIY methods for destroying hard disks, but the problem is that all of them can be pretty dangerous. Bits of the hard drive might hit you, while theres also the danger of inhaling dust particles or harmful chemicals that will get released along the way. So, in order to do it properly, you would need protective equipment, but even that cant prevent creating a total mess in your home or office. A much better solution is to leave it to professionals.
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How To Destroy A Laptop Hard Drive With Water
As theres no point of reformatting the hard drive to get rid of sensitive information, youre probably wondering how to destroy a laptop hard drive. You would think that submerging it in water is bound to solve the problem, but that simply isnt the case. The water will do little more than disable the electronic parts, but the data saved on the platters will stay intact. A forensic expert would have no problems recovering the data it would just take a little more time than if the hard drive hadnt been damaged by water.
Cables Connectors And Calamity
Ribbon cables are often difficult to plug in incorrectly, because the connectors they go into are “keyed” to match the cable in only one orientation. If a ribbon cable plugs into a bare pin header with no surround, though, damage can result if the user takes note of the tiny “1” often printed on the circuit board by the connector to indicate pin one, and also takes note of the stripe on the cable which indicates which side is should connect to pin one, and reverses the connector. Incompetently made cables with one end backwards make this much simpler. Note that reversing a cable at BOTH ends is likely to result in perfect operation of the hardware, which is not the aim of this exercise.
If the pin header on the motherboard isn’t “shrouded” – surrounded by a plastic box to correctly align the plug – the intrepid user can quite easily connect the plug in such a way as to miss one row or column of pins. This can very excitingly change the details of the connection being made.
When connecting an older style, “AT” power supply to a motherboard, the two-part power connector offers a marvellous opportunity for destruction. Make sure at all costs to avoid the plug configuration shown below.
Plugging and unplugging peripherals that attach to computer ports while the machine is turned on is unlikely to damage the peripherals and not much more likely to damage the computer – plugging and unplugging cards inside the computer when it’s on is a much better way to damage things.
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How Can You Crash A Laptop Without Physical Evidence
There are many ways to destroy a laptop without damaging it physically. However, some of these ways require excellent handling of electronic devices and a good sense of creativity. Your skills will enable you to execute the action flawlessly, and your imagination will help you cover any obvious tracks to ensure that it looks accidental.
Why Is It Important To Recycle Or Properly Dispose Of Old Computers
Recycling e-waste helps prevent harmful materials from negatively affecting the environment. Proper computer disposal can keep old plastic and metal devices out of landfills and reduce the need to use non-renewable, raw materials to create new products. This means using less energy, less financial resources, and having less of an impact on areas that would be mined and destroyed.
Many computers contain harmful materials that can cause damage to the environment if not handled properly. These materials include:;
- Mercury
- Radioactive isotopes
- Cadmium
Because of the potential danger leaving these materials in landfills can cause, many local dumps will not accept old computers. You may also find yourself facing fines if you put your old computers out with the trash.
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How To Destroy Your Computer
Originally published in Australian Personal Computer Magazine, January 1998.
Many computer users perform their own hardware upgrades, and a distressing number of these result in insufficient damage to the system. Destroying your own computer is every user’s right and is the pattern of behaviour expected by the manufacturers and, especially, repair personnel, whose very livelihood is put in peril by those users who perversely persist in correctly upgrading their equipment.
This article will explain to you, the user, the most common ways by which you can cause your computer to cease to function. Follow the instructions carefully and you will shortly find yourself making appropriate contributions to the all-important service sector.
Keep your hair on, people
Yes, this articleby Sander Sassen at Hardware Analysis is a bit similar to the page you’re looking at.
No, it’s not a rip-off. Great minds just think alike.
Thank you to everyone who wrote to me expressing their concern, and to everyone who wrote to Sander and called him rude names. The boy’s going to be in therapy forever.
First, it is essential to be incorrectly prepared.
If any components of your computer are held in place with Pozidriv screws , use of a Phillips head driver instead of the squarer tipped Pozidriv gives the maximum chance of reaming out the screw head and, with luck, damaging the driver as well.
Getting Rid Of The Laptop
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Doing It Department Of Defense Style
If anyone is going to know how to render something completely useless, its going to be the people that use ordinance as part of their toolkit. Yes, the good old military.
Like anything in the military there is a standard for data destruction as well as a decision-making flowchart.
TheDepartment of Defense did have their own standard at one time,but they have deferred to the standard set out by the NationalInstitute of Science and Technology .
The DoD, and countless other government organizations, follow NIST Special Publication 800-88, Revision 1, Guidelines for Media Sanitization.
The guidelines lay out three levels of data destruction or sanitization as they call it.
Clear
To clear the data means to use logical methods to render the data hard to recover. Simply put, it means using some sort of program to erase the data on the hard drive.
The Clear Method from the guidelines
Overwrite media by using organizationally approved and validated overwriting technologies/methods/tools. The Clear procedure should consist of at least one pass of writes with a fixed data value, such as all zeros. Multiple passes or more complex values may optionally be used.
You could do something like this by performing a zero fill using a Linux live disk.
Purge
Purging is a step up from clearing. It includes using logical methods, like above, and physical methods to make it hard to recover data. It has to make it hard for even someone with a data recovery lab with all the fancy equipment.
Yes You Should Recycle Your Old Camera
If you’re still holding onto camera relics from the early 2000s, we’ve got a few places that will take them off your hands.
Best Buy and Home Depot accept cameras and camcorders. Lowe’s also takes cameras. And, of course, Earth911 and Call2Recycle are options for the breadth of your used electronics.
Large TVs may seem like a pain to donate. But Best Buy, for example, lets you drop off your TVs at retail locations to be recycled for just $30.;
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How To Destroy A Laptop Hard Drive
Information theft is a serious concern. Every organization that relies heavily on the use of mobile devices is at risk. So, if you have sensitive data stored on your notebook computer, its essential to learn how to destroy a laptop hard drive.
If youre wondering why anyone would want to learn how to destroy a laptop hard drive, the answer is simple the risk of information theft. We live in a dog-eat-dog world, where some people are ready to do anything in order to get easy money. Sometimes, that involves using methods which are entirely illegal, like stealing companys classified data, for example.
But, its not only the business owners who should be aware of the danger. The same goes for those working for any organization that relies on the use of mobile devices. If the information from your laptop ends up in the wrong hands, the results could be disastrous. There is only one way to ensure that such a scenario doesnt occur, and that is to destroy the hard drive, and the data it contains.
How To Dispose Of Old Computers Responsibly
We all go through several computers and other electronic devices over a lifetime and getting rid of them is not as easy as throwing them in the trash.; Today we take a look at how to dispose of your old machines in a secure and environmentally responsible manner.
With the new Windows operating system around the corner and an abundance of cheap computers on the market, you may find yourself asking what to do with your old PC and components.; We will take a look at how to securely destroy private data on your old hard drive, ideas for repurposing, and how to get rid of them in a way that is friendly to the environment.
Ensure Data Is Destroyed
The biggest concern when getting rid of your old computer is ensuring important and private data doesnt get into the wrong hands.; Simply deleting your files and emptying the Recycle Bin is not enough.; Dariks Boot and Nuke is the most popular free utility that will overwrite each sector on your hard drive making data unrecoverable.; It is very secure and will deter people that use hard disk forensic analysis from retrieving your data.; Burn the ISO image to disk and boot from it to get the main menu.; From here you can choose the method you want to use to wipe the disk.;
Another cheap and effective method is taking an axe or hammer to the hard drive and smashing it into bits. Of course make sure you wear protective goggles and other protective clothing when smashing it up.
What Happens to E-Waste?
A digital dumping ground in Ghana.
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