Topic: Donating (disposing) of old computers

[BillB]

A correspondent asks:

"My company is upgrading our office and we have a number of older computers, printers, and copiers that have no value to us. What can we do with them?"

[BillB]

If copiers, laser printers, or monitors are functional, donating them doesn't require any effort more than delivery. Just contact your favorite school, religious, or social organization or a poor friend.
 
Donating computers is problematical because most individuals and businesses keep them until they are too out of date to be of much use to an unsophisticated user. The effort to cleanse them of proprietary information, refresh their licenses, and prepare them as a turn-key donation is more than the value considering new computers are available well under $500.
 
There are businesses that recycle computers in bulk (I throw away a couple brochures a month). HP and Dell will do so if you are buying new computers from them and may even take computers from non-customers. Expect to pay $30-$50 each for the service. Also, if you are sending your hard disc, check the recycler's reputation for destroying your data. Better still, remove the discs and find the nearest construction project to drive over them with a bulldozer (anything less MIGHT be recoverable by a dedicated hacker). This is especially critical for a financial or medical business. Even if "all data was on the server", there might be temp or cache files that could be valuable to ID theives.
 
A hobbiest may take one or two computers off your hands, but again you must get assurances as to the security of your data and licensed software. Of course, if they're 1.6 GHz CPU and 256 MB RAM or better, talk to me. You could post an offer here.
 
The county recycling center will take single computers from residents. Otherwise, you need to contact your trash hauler as hazardous waste.

[BillB]

Data and license security is an increasing issue in the disposal of every computer that contains a hard disc. Even if you don't store any files on the local computer, it will contain information that is valuable to ID thieves and would make it a target. If this is a business computer, there may be client lists or other proprietary information to make your disc more valuable. If you’re in the financial or medical fields, misappropriation of your data could expose you to legal liability far beyond nuisance and embarrassment.

In the early ‘90s, I read of a columnist who bought a used computer and, with trivial tools, read source code for new programs from a major software company; as well as the user’s personal financial data. At about the same time, I described a simple technique (in a DOS environment) to securely erase your data while leaving the operating system and applications intact. With programs stashing identification or password data in system folders and the registry; you can no longer assume that deleting files, even with an advanced “file shredder,” is sufficient to protect your information.

There are services that will (for a price) recover your data from software corruption or some types of physical damage. The dedicated thief or industrial spy can use software tools and these services to extract just about anything that passed through the computer recently.

Crass commercial statement:

I will remove and destroy the hard drives from decommissioned computers. Then you will have a donatable box (depending on vintage) minus an inexpensive piece of hardware. Pricing is based on the level of destruction and assurance required. Just click the “email” button below.

Bill Barnes