How to junk a Laptop.

slinga

I have a 12 year old laptop which although powers up it will not load Windows.
An 'expert' says the motherboard has a problem but it will cost 120 quid to fix which I don't want to pay.


So I want to trash it but how?


I can take out the HDD and the RAMs but is there anything else I should do???

agrinnall

No need to take out the RAM unless you plan to reuse or sell it. I'd take out the HDD then either take the rest to a recycling centre or stick it on ebay and hope that someone will offer you a few quid for it.

Tom99

Or freecycle

Neil_Jones

The only place data lives on a computer is on the hard drive. Technically data can live in computer memory but only if the modules have power (ie when the unit is on) and they forget it soon after even under powered conditions. TL;DR - you don't need to worry about that, you can flog it on eBay if you want.

Take the hard drive out and then feed the rest of the unit to the electrical recycling point of the local tip.

googler

agrinnall wrote: »

No need to take out the RAM unless you plan to reuse or sell it. I'd take out the HDD then either take the rest to a recycling centre or stick it on ebay and hope that someone will offer you a few quid for it.

This.

Remove HDD and keep it for security, and for possible re-use in a USB caddy if required.

Either take the rest to the small electricals skip at the local recycling centre/civic amenity dump site, or sell it as a spares/repair project / break it for parts - the latter two options on eBay, Gumtree, Schpock or similar.

Cisco001

If motherboard broken, you won't be able to power up...

Anyway, for a 12 year laptop, Probably don't bother to fix anyway...

slinga

Cisco001 wrote: »

If motherboard broken, you won't be able to power up...

Anyway, for a 12 year laptop, Probably don't bother to fix anyway...

That's interesting.


The 'expert' said there was a problem with the motherboard.
The guy is chinese and his english is worse than my chinese.


When I switch on I can get an HP page and if I press one of the function buttons I get to a page which gives choices of how to proceed:
-normal windows startup
-safe mode
-safe mode with networking

etc etc.


But when I click on any of those then I get no further.


I like the laptop even though I haven't use it for 2 or 3 years because it has HDMI, USB, LAN cable connection, etc etc.

esuhl

slinga wrote: »

The 'expert' said there was a problem with the motherboard.

That's unlikely. Possibly a hard drive issue, but the chances are the hardware is working fine and it's a software problem. Has your "expert" checked these things first?

EveryWhere

slinga wrote: »

That's interesting.


The 'expert' said there was a problem with the motherboard.
The guy is chinese and his english is worse than my chinese.


When I switch on I can get an HP page and if I press one of the function buttons I get to a page which gives choices of how to proceed:
-normal windows startup
-safe mode
-safe mode with networking

etc etc.


But when I click on any of those then I get no further.


I like the laptop even though I haven't use it for 2 or 3 years because it has HDMI, USB, LAN cable connection, etc etc.

HDMI? Perhaps a ten year old laptop. What's the brand name and model number?

BigAl94

Either retain or take a large hammer and destroy the hard drive.

slinga

EveryWhere wrote: »

HDMI? Perhaps a ten year old laptop. What's the brand name and model number?

It's an hp ProBook 4310s