Disposing of an old PC

bsod

if it's from 91, a cd will probably have more capacity than the drive, not worth keeping or any effort. Drill it if you're paranoid.

Or you could re-install windows 3.0 and see that those old machines with tiny amounts of ram and processor power compared to today were as nippy as a new one after a fresh install.

some drives are black

bjbyorkshire

I'm not going to keep anything as I won't be getting another desktop computer. I simply don't want anyone else getting all my personal photos, not that they are in anyway incriminating or anything but now that the machine is dismantled and in the garage I can't go in and delete these photos. I have back ups of what I want to keep but I just want to keep my personal stuff.... well .... personal. I've been out today so the unscrewing and looking for the hard drive will take place this weekend. I will google it tonight so I should then have a better idea of what I'm looking for.

Thanks for your input folks, much appreciated.

bsod

if you want to delete them to stop other people looking (the odds of someone picking up a 500 MB disk out of the refuse and trying to recover some data are pretty small), plug it all back together, and use dban, otherwise you're looking at buying a caddy, or keep, or physical destruction

bjbyorkshire

Physical destruction sounds the way to go if I'm able to get the drive out of the case. I've just googled how to take out a hard drive so I'm a bit more clued up on what I'm looking for. Will let you know how I get on.

Can I get any kind of shock if everything is unplugged from the mains, this Google article suggested this can happen but I'm surmising that it's not possible if no electricity is live?

Sorry if this sounds like a very stupid question.

bsod

depends what tools you have available

remove the power leads from the back of the unit, then press the power on switch for a second to discharge any capacitors, then you'll be ok

the bit that plugs into the hard disk is low voltage and low current anyway, the meaty part is the power supply which is inside a metal cage.

shaun_from_Africa

You might be able to get a shock despite the computer being disconnected from the mains but only if you start playing with the internals of the unit very quickly after disconnection. (this is because there may be a few capacitors that can store charge but this charge dissipates very quickly without power being applied).
Even then, any shock you would get would be very small and in all likelihood, you probably wouldn't even notice it.

stator

Download a program called DBAN and write it to a CD. Then boot your computer from the CD and wipe the whole thing. Then give your computer away on Freecycle, or look for a local non-profit who recycle computers. Put it to good use

bsod

stator wrote: »

Then give your computer away on Freecycle, or look for a local non-profit who recycle computers. Put it to good use

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

I would be happy to donate it on free cycle but it is about 24 years old
Thanks

..........

959Rich

Follow the instructions on DBAN which will do the job for you. For double confirmation unscrew your box, remove the head drive and smash it with a sledgehammer. This not only protects your data but is also quite enjoyable!

Ben84

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

You might be able to get a shock despite the computer being disconnected from the mains but only if you start playing with the internals of the unit very quickly after disconnection. (this is because there may be a few capacitors that can store charge but this charge dissipates very quickly without power being applied).
Even then, any shock you would get would be very small and in all likelihood, you probably wouldn't even notice it.

This isn't a big worry with a desktop computer as the large, high voltage capacitors are all inside the power supply unit. However, in a normal desktop the power supply is inside its own sealed unit inside the case - effectively an appliance inside an appliance, and will be sufficiently obvious that you shouldn't be able to open it accidentally. Everything else outside the power supply will be maximum 12V DC - which is basically harmless, even when powered up. There's no big capacitors outside the power supply either, just really little ones here and there on the motherboard to hold up voltages next to microchips. All harmless.

Desktop computers are unusually safe appliances, but they are designed for home users to open up for upgrades and things. They're much safer than other typical household appliances.