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My company is looking to get rid of a number of old desktop PCs. Im just looking at possible options in which to do so.

  1. Trash - Not the best idea, bad for the environment
  2. Recycle - Companies like Best Buy supposedly will take old PCs for recycling at no charge. I have heard stories that recycled computers do not actually get recycled though...
  3. Donate - Goodwill will take them and supposedly we can get a tax write off
  4. Sell - Not likely an option, it requires more work than the computers are worth

Am I missing some (not so) obvious options? What else can be responsibly done with old hardware?

poortechworker
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Keltari
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    Those 4 don't cover it? What do you want to get out of this that those solutions don't provide? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Jul 22 '14 at 20:53
  • Any old data on disks? May need to be removed first before any other action. – Hannu Jul 22 '14 at 20:55
  • I just wanted to see if there was an option I missed. Or perhaps someone has insight on them. I hear "stories" that our (USA) recycled computers go to Africa and sit as trash... Dont know if thats true or not. – Keltari Jul 22 '14 at 20:56
  • @Hannu The hard drives will be DBANed – Keltari Jul 22 '14 at 20:57
  • Actually they tend to end up in China from what I've heard. :( But you can only do so much. If you wan to be guaranteed they get properly recycled, open a PC recycling company -- otherwise you have to trust others (unfortunately). Ps, you ever DBAN a hard drive before? If not, be warned, you're looking at DAYS to do each one. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Jul 22 '14 at 20:57
  • These are computers.. There are people that put things on ebay, maybe they'll take a fee or percentage such that you won't make a loss. – barlop Jul 22 '14 at 21:08
  • A alternative to DBAN would be use encrypt the drive with ( for example Truecrypt ) then delete the partitions. This would be very effective to protect the data on the HDD but save you the additional time of trying to write over the data in such a way data recovery isn't possible. – Ramhound Jul 22 '14 at 22:59

4 Answers4

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you could remove all the motherboards and use them to cover your walls in your room. If you are in this sort of geek decorations stuff :D But I recommend option 2. It's the least work, I've used these services two times at my job.

Linux_cat
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  • So they should get rid of them by keeping them on the walls? :) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Jul 22 '14 at 20:59
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    Me and my old college roommate did that many years ago. The college we attended had just upgraded all their computers and threw away hundreds of their old ones. So our living room was totally geeked out. – Iraedei Jul 22 '14 at 21:09
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    Perhaos unhealthy. There may be chemicals on motherboards. Not sure though. – barlop Jul 22 '14 at 21:09
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    @barlop, All the matter in the universe is composed of chemicals. So your second sentence doesn't convey useful information. If you had said may contain **harmful** chemicals, or materials you would have been fine. – Zoredache Jul 22 '14 at 21:20
  • @Zoredache i'm not trying to make what I wrote completely and utterly idiot proof. And i'm not trying to make a claim as to what chemicals may be harmful. Nor am I trying to invite the question to me(i'm not an expert) of what chemicals may be harmful. – barlop Jul 22 '14 at 21:28
  • @barlop - The motherboards are fine. If there were chemicals on them you would breath them in, when you sit next to the case, with a fan blowing the "chemicals" out of the case. – Ramhound Jul 22 '14 at 23:01
  • @Ramhound We breath in toxins all the time, there are toxins in food packaging. Unfortunately these things aren't avoidable. I'm sure petrol fumes in traffic is much worse,I don't think air coming in and out of a computer is great for air quality but accept it as necessary.But lining a wall full of motherboards is unnecessary.And i'm not making some big claim about how you won't be fine. Food packaging can even have govt warnings http://www.foodsmart.govt.nz/whats-in-our-food/chemicals-nutrients-additives-toxins/plastic-packaging/ (to not eat cheese in pvc daily!) but I do,we live with them. – barlop Jul 23 '14 at 07:21
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If you happen to be in Portland, OR, there's an awesome place called FreeGeek that would appreciate donations. They give back to the community by teaching classes, donating computers to student volunteers, and some other cool stuff. You could look for similar computer charities or non-profits in your city if there are any.

Link to FreeGeek site

Erikster
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There are computer recycling companies that will take everything , but it seems for them to take everything they need a couple good things in with it. If you only have junk (old old computers) they will never return and pick them up.

Donate, stuff never gets bought... and ends up in the trash. Here Habitat for Humanity have desktops for sale for $250-400 w/crt but they are pentium4. Who in their right mind will do that?

Sell? I wouldnt sell it without removing the hd, or really scrub the hd. Faster and easier to destroy the hd.

Trash? That is where it will end up sooner or later (EVERYTHING will eventually... just being a realist). It is just a matter of time whether in your local dump or China's "e-waste capital of the world". Guiyu, China Though I am lucky my local landfill does take all electronics. Not always, just recent after quite a bit of random dumpings of random electronics in random places in our area. COunty found it easier to manage the junk in one place instead of scattered everywhere....

Answer? Trash them. Otherwise choose one of the others and pass the buck, and have them go through the guilt trip you are having right now.

Logman
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A variant of your option 2/3: The solution I use is to remove the hard drives (you don't want private information getting out there), then going to a nearby industrial area and sticking the PC's on the side of the road with a sign saying "Free - Please take" on them. They are usually picked up very quickly.

davidgo
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