Disposing of an old PC

bjbyorkshire

I have dismantled my old desktop computer today and am taking it to the local tip. My neighbour said he smashed the hard drive with a hammer so that no one could read any data stored on it. Would others advise this method or not? I really don't think that there are any banking details on it but there will be a lot of old photos and music on there. Any other suggestions please.

Bjbyorkshire

Browntoa

If you want the old photos ec then get a hard drive caddy off eBay , otherwise smash it just in case

skintpaul

Hopefully you've backed up anything you want to keep..?

Definately remove h/d, and destroy separately- pass over it with a big magnet, burn bonfire / smash with hammer etc.

Just to be sure.

bjbyorkshire

Thanks for that but what do I need to do to get to the hard drive. Is it located inside the back of the box? I've never had the need to open it up at all.

Thanks

Nick_C

After deleting all the data, you could overwrite the deleted files by putting some large innocent files - music for example - on there and continually copying them until you fill the hard drive.

Also, ask the council what they do with discarded PCs. A good council will have an arrangement in place for them to be stripped for re-use, with data being securely deleted as part of the process. I wouldn't rely on that 100%, but its reassuring where it is in place.

somersethillbilly

I don't understand why people destroy HDDs, why not save it for a backup drive....can you ever have too many backups?

Then why not put the remainder of the PC on freecycle or similar, even if it is ancient, someone will have a use for it.

Hedgehog99

The hard drive will be easy to find - probably ablack metal box and, if you take the cover off that, you should see a stack of silver glass plates.

Near me, there's a charity computer recycling place who were happy to take my old desk top (I took out the hard drive).

There was a "Tonight"-type programme where they went to Africa and bought supposedly wiped second hand hard drives - and retrieved personal data & turned up on UK people's doorsteps to warn them!!!

bjbyorkshire

Thanks for your answers. It's all dismantled now and in the garage. I will go in with my screwdriver tomorrow and see if I can find something that looks like a black metal box which I might remove.

I would be happy to donate it on free cycle but it is ancient, around 24 years old. It would take a lot of work to update it. It was a very good one in its day as I paid a lot for it for my son.

I will try what has been suggested.

Many thanks

bjbyorkshire

Thanks for the replies. I will look for the black box tomorrow. I would be happy to donate it on free cycle but it is about 24 years old. It was so slow that I lost all patience to use it but it was a very good quality and fairly expensive purchase in its day.

Thanks

googler

Take the hard drive out and keep it.

googler

somersethillbilly wrote: »

I don't understand why people destroy HDDs, why not save it for a backup drive....

This.

The Hard Drive won't be black, it will be bare metal.

Search google images or look at the pictures of them on Amazon to get an idea what they look like.

Open up the casework, unplug the data and power cables, unscrew the mounting screws, and keep the drive to use in a USB caddy with your new machine.

There are guides all over YouTube on how to do this.