Safest / easiest way to get rid of old laptops (1 Viewer)

[cosjobs]

I have a lot of old laptops, tablets, and phones, couple of dozen, at least.
I just want them out of my life.
I do not have time to mechanically remove the storage from them.
I'd prefer not to harm the environment,
I don't want anyone scraping them for my personal data.

I've considered:
throw them in a firepit and dose with fluid and light them up, then take the carcasses to the dump electronics disposal
smash with axe/sledge and then to the dump
Taking them as is to Staples recycle and hope the protect my data (they specifically advise against this).
Sticking them in a box and taking them to Austin and dealing it with it there.


The main thing is I just don't have time. Moving van arrives Tuesday and we're not nearly ready.

 

[Ron Swanson]

I have a flash drive with DBAN loaded on it. Boot the PC from it, let it do it's thing. Chromebooks get a Powerwash, Android phones just get a factory reset. Can't help with Apple. I usually donate the devices if they have some value to a school.

 

[brun]

I'd do this:
Sticking them in a box and taking them to Austin and dealing it with it there.

Because:
The main thing is I just don't have time. Moving van arrives Tuesday and we're not nearly ready.

 

[Osaurus]

Hard drives in laptops are usually very easy to remove. The others not so much. You got a big electromagnet available? Degaussers (demagnetizers) make quick work of wiping data on most drives of any kind, but you’re in a time crunch.

If you can, fire up everything else and restore to factory default, then you can drop them off at Staples without issue.

FWIW: I drill holes in old platter hard drives and newer solid state drives before I take them to the County site for recycling.

 

[cosjobs]

I have a flash drive with DBAN loaded on it. Boot the PC from it, let it do it's thing. Chromebooks get a Powerwash, Android phones just get a factory reset. Can't help with Apple. I usually donate the devices if they have some value to a school.

I don't have time to do all that. It could take half to a full day to find the power cords and get them charged run the software and then I'd still have to deal with the hdds.

 

[cosjobs]

Hard drives in laptops are usually very easy to remove. The others not so much. You got a big electromagnet available? Degaussers (demagnetizers) make quick work of wiping data on most drives of any kind, but you’re in a time crunch.

If you can, fire up everything else and restore to factory default, then you can drop them off at Staples without issue.

FWIW: I drill holes in old platter hard drives and newer solid state drives before I take them to the County site for recycling.

I like this idea a lot. Any idea of the type of place that might have one I could use?
i like the fact that the components could be used or properly disposed by the Staples recycle thing

 

[Mister CIA]

Can you guess what this link is?

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[Osaurus]

Hard drives in laptops are usually very easy to remove. The others not so much. You got a big electromagnet available? Degaussers (demagnetizers) make quick work of wiping data on most drives of any kind, but you’re in a time crunch.

If you can, fire up everything else and restore to factory default, then you can drop them off at Staples without issue.

FWIW: I drill holes in old platter hard drives and newer solid state drives before I take them to the County site for recycling.

I like this idea a lot. Any idea of the type of place that might have one I could use?
i like the fact that the components could be used or properly disposed by the Staples recycle thing

No idea, but would thinking general, any of those corporate “cleanup” companies that do shredding and the like might offer that service as well. Good luck.

 

[cosjobs]

I'd do this:
Sticking them in a box and taking them to Austin and dealing it with it there.

Because:
The main thing is I just don't have time. Moving van arrives Tuesday and we're not nearly ready.

This is probably what will happen

 

[cosjobs]

Any idea if I could place this magnet on the unopened laptops and degauss them that way?

 

[Osaurus]

I make a point of going through my electronics about once a year. Not that this really applies to your situation, but I try to keep my electronic device footprint rather small. I’m trying to unload and older PC I built 5 years ago and it’s a PITA to give it away to anyone as-is. I’m probably going to have to pull the SSD and just take the rest to the County recycling center.

 

[Osaurus]

Any idea if I could place this on the unopened laptops and degauss the that way

Maybe. I think you need at least 450 lb for it. But seriously, pulling the hard drives out of laptops is pretty easy and not very time consuming.

 

[The Z Machine]

Any idea if I could place this on the unopened laptops and degauss the that way

Maybe. I think you need at least 450 lb for it. But seriously, pulling the hard drives out of laptops is pretty easy and not very time consuming.

I get the time crunch around a long distance move. I'd throw them into a box and deal with it properly is Austin. Don't burn them. That's pretty nasty pollution.

 

[Runkle]

Yeah it's just one more box, and you don't really care about how rough they get handled. And, there might be a time when you're looking for a pointless project as a distraction. Figure it out then. Don't bother now when you're in a time crunch.

 

[Val Rannous]

If you don't want to, or don't have the time to screw with this yourself, GeekSquad (and probably other tech assistant services as well) offer data wiping - they can securely erase the data from a device, often as part of preparing it for trade-in or recycling. Then you can do whatever with them - donate, recycle, eBay, etc.

@cosjobs , hope this helps - I know things are stressful right now.

 

[Val Rannous]

I have a flash drive with DBAN loaded on it

Boot and Nuke?!? Oh, man, I gotta get me a copy of that. I mean, I can manually wipe a drive and be confident of the result, but automating that procedure sounds awesome.

 

[Chemical X]

when i moved to italy we had many old PCs and laptops. i removed the hard drives and found a local place that shreds them. it was $5 per drive. basically, a metal shredder and you watch. best money i spent during the move for peace of mind.

 

[the moops]

Nearly every county has some sort of household drop off electronics recyling/disposal. Nobody is scraping old laptops for your personal data

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

I just pull the hard drives and take a hammer to them before tossing in the trash.

 

[titusbramble]

Can you not just find someone nearby that has an entry into Robot Wars and offer it as part of their chassis?

 

[the moops]

I just pull the hard drives and take a hammer to them before tossing in the trash.

This is a terrible idea. Don't do this. The batteries in particular need to be disposed of properly. And there is valuable recyclables in the computer

 

[FarFromHome]

I have my daughter's old laptop. Can I just dump bleach inside it and bury it in my backyard?

 

[ChiefD]

I have my daughter's old laptop. Can I just dump bleach inside it and bury it in my backyard?

Yes.