What to do with dead laptop computer?

Life Technology
1

i have a compaq presario laptop, about 5-6 years old, that is dead, basically.
the history is it first died a few years ago, got resurrected by a friend’s technogeek friend (bless him!), then died again a few months later.
it won’t even load up now.

it has sat in my closet for a while, forgeotten, but i’d like to get rid of it.

what is the best option?

i am pretty sure there are still some files on the computer somewhere. i’d erase the stuff, but i don’t know how (i’m not a technogeek by any means).

anyway, any suggestions are welcome.
thanks!

2

Is the screen still working (LCD & backlight)?
What model is it?

I have a Presario 1500 with a dead display, I’m using it as a web server.
If your display is still working and it fits on my laptop, I’d be interested…

3

I have a similar problem. Computers’ about the same age. Used it in China. Tried to get updated software which crashed the whole system (pirated of course, for sale in all the stores in the Haidian district, although I didn’t know it at the time). They had to reformat the whole thing, lost all my data. Then couldn’t make MS Office work on it. Survived China using MS Notepad and the i-net as only resources.

Have since bought a nice new Asus but have the old one sitting in the apartment. I tried to switch it on a few months ago and nothing came up on the screen. What do I do with it? I’d give it away to anyone who came to have a look at at it…(in Hsinchu) Suggestions?

4

Similar problem here too. I’ve got a laptop about 10 years old – a dinosaur, big, heavy and slow even though it had all the bells and whistles and I paid US$3,000 for it back then. But it’s obviously way outdated, so I bought another laptop a couple years ago. I’d like to dispose of the old one (even donate it for recycling) but would like to be sure all the files are cleaned off it first if possible.

It’s my understanding that it is essentially impossible to do that – even the greatest techie could diligently attempt to clean it completely, but some other tech genius would still be able to extract the deleted files. Is that true? If so, maybe I’ll just dissemble it for kicks, to see what makes it tick, then throw the pieces in the trash…unless someone has a better idea.

5

Just take out the hard drive and sell the laptop without one. No problem. You can always reuse the laptop-sized hard drive in a USB enclosure, or if it’s a really old tiny one, you can get the data off it by plugging it into another machine, then dismantle the drive and take a belt sander to the hard drive platter until it’s a small pile of (primarily) aluminum dust.

Then use the aluminum powder for thermite to make a hole for a plumbing fixture.

6

I’m popping home - Blighty- for Christmas. I have a barely used Compaq machine with a massive 6GB hard drive. Is it worth lugging it back hear to sell for scrap d’you think, or should I just forget about it?

I’ve heard that people buy machines like this for the parts.

L.

7

I’ll take any and all your laptops off your hands. Either through donations or for a fair price. PM me if interested.

8

hmm, Ill consider your offers, the two of you who expressed interest in the laptop.
but first, I’m wondering, is it possible to resurrect my laptop if i just get a new harddrive and install a new operating system?
anyone know about this?

9

[quote=“ugaluga”]hmm, Ill consider your offers, the two of you who expressed interest in the laptop.
but first, I’m wondering, is it possible to resurrect my laptop if I just get a new harddrive and install a new operating system?
anyone know about this?[/quote]
Depends on what was wrong with it in the first place.

10

I’ll contact you in about 4 weeks, when my exams are over and I have time to get things organized. Cheers.

11

I have a laptop too, not dead, just ancient. Toshiba Satellite 335CDS.

12

Exuse my tech ignorance (there are other things in life that I understand well), but is that true? If one wants to dispose of an old computer without giving someone else access to your files, just remove the hard drive?

  1. Will that definitely remove all files? There’s no where else they could be stored?

  2. Might someone else still be interested in the machine without a HD?

  3. Is it fairly easy for a non-techie to remove the HD?

13

Exuse my tech ignorance (there are other things in life that I understand well), but is that true? If one wants to dispose of an old computer without giving someone else access to your files, just remove the hard drive?

  1. Will that definitely remove all files? There’s no where else they could be stored?[/quote]
    I think I’ve heard of a few laptops having special flash memory “drives” for secure encrypted storage of confidential documents, but in general, no. Even for those, I think the flash card was removable.

Sure, why not? Just plug a new drive in and reinstall the software, no problemo.

On mine it is a matter of removing one screw and pulling the drive out of its slot. The drive is contained in a small sheetmetal box, which needs to be detached from the drive so that the new owner will have the parts into which to install a new drive; also, there is a small edge connector slipped onto the drive’s pins which has to be pulled off and turned over to the new owner. I don’t know about other laptops, YMMV.

14

On a standard laptop removing the harddisk will remove all the files with it, including those that belong to the operating system, applications and your data files etc.

On my Asus you just open the (harddisk) cover at the bottom, remove a screw or two and take out the harddisk, so it should be easy for a non-techie, too.

15

I have a laptop too, not dead, just ancient. Toshiba Satellite 335CDS.[/quote]

Would you like to donate it? PM me. Thanks

16

From today’s NYT:

Poor Nations Are Littered With Old PC’s, Report Says


Waste from electronic devices littered a neighborhood in Nigeria. Computer monitors can contain large amounts of toxic materials

[quote]Much of the used computer equipment sent from the United States to developing countries for use in homes, schools and businesses is often neither usable nor repairable, creating enormous environmental problems in some of the world’s poorest places, according to a report to be issued today by an environmental organization.

The report, titled “The Digital Dump: Exporting Reuse and Abuse to Africa,” says that the unusable equipment is being donated or sold to developing nations by recycling businesses in the United States as a way to dodge the expense of having to recycle it properly. While the report, written by the Basel Action Network, based in Seattle, focuses on Nigeria, in western Africa, it says the situation is similar throughout much of the developing world.

“Too often, justifications of ‘building bridges over the digital divide’ are used as excuses to obscure and ignore the fact that these bridges double as toxic waste pipelines,” says the report. As a result, Nigeria and other developing nations are carrying a disproportionate burden of the world’s toxic waste from technology products, according to Jim Puckett, coordinator of the group.

According to the National Safety Council, more than 63 million computers in the United States will become obsolete in 2005. An average computer monitor can contain as much as eight pounds of lead, along with plastics laden with flame retardants and cadmium, all of which can be harmful to the environment and to humans.

In 2002, the Basel Action Network was co-author of a report that said 50 percent to 80 percent of electronics waste collected for recycling in the United States was being disassembled and recycled under largely unregulated, unhealthy conditions in China, India, Pakistan and other developing countries. . .[/quote]
nytimes.com/2005/10/24/techn … 4junk.html

17

Where are the PCs manufactured? Who operates the companies sending the old PCs overseas? What do other countries (like Taiwan) do with old computers?