What to do with old laptops?

[Jaggg88]

8 hours ago, justin case said:

On 1/4/2020 at 2:14 PM, Inn Between said:

I remember seeing something about using a powerful enough magnet to destroy any data, but you'll likely have to remove the HD's to do it....and find a big ol' magnet. 

 

MICROWAVE for a few seconds till it sparks

The ONLY full proof way to ensure all data is permanently destroyed is to incinerate the HDD.

Formatting or installing a fresh version of windows does not erase all the data it only hides it.

I usually buy inexpensive USB 3.0 caddies and reuse the HDDs as external drives, always handy as a backup device. If you're really worried about sensitive data then you can completely overwrite the drive using a free software programs such as CCleaner. This will write random zeros and ones over exiting data but you have to run this a number of times to be sure it's unreadable. Unless you're a spy or master criminal most people just format it and carry on.

Edited January 6, 2020 by Jaggg88
Further info

[Andrew Dwyer]

36 minutes ago, Jaggg88 said:

How do you test that it has worked?

A colleague of mine returned his old laptop to his boss after receiving an upgraded one.

Next day the boss approached him

Boss : “ Steve that laptop you returned had nothing on it “
Steve : “ yes, I cleared all my stuff off it “

Boss : “ no, I meant it has nothing on it , not even an operating system, just a blue screen “

 

Awkward silence !!

 

Steve later told me he had stuck a couple of magnets from some old speakers on it for a couple of days!!

 

What he wanted to hide was never discovered !! ????

[SAFETY FIRST]

10 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Buy a copy of Windows 10 from eBay,only a few hundred baht.

Do a fresh install thus erasing everything.

Now use it for music, Spotify.

Connect to 5.1 surround sound system.

 

Stream your music.

I would like to add that my old laptops were performing badly due to the operating system and RAM. 

Vista is power hungry this is why I installed Windows 10,its a much better operating system and I even installed on a very old laptop with a slow CPU. 

Ram is quite cheap and easy to install. Have a look at YouTube videos for your model. 

These laptops are great sound systems, just plug it in to your surround sound system, even 3.1 is good. 

Try it, you'll be amazed. 

If you know someone with a beer bar let them know, pass this information on. 

Seems a shame all these laptops are put in to landfill. 

[samtam]

19 hours ago, bangkokequity said:

Is it really so difficult to write a posting with basic information .. like ... the city you are in ... the general age and type of laptop ...etc. ??? If you were in Bangkok .. I could tell you exactly who to give them to.  Too tired to do the detective work to figure out where you are. 

Bangkok. One is NEC:

I don't even know which is a hard drive to remove, as neither opened section looks like one to me.

 

Hard drive replaced in 2003.

Bought prior to that, not sure when.

Thanks for your help. Sorry for making your life so tiresome.

Model number:

 

[samtam]

20 hours ago, bangkokequity said:

Is it really so difficult to write a posting with basic information .. like ... the city you are in ... the general age and type of laptop ...etc. ??? If you were in Bangkok .. I could tell you exactly who to give them to.  Too tired to do the detective work to figure out where you are. 

HP model. HD removed:

 

Age unknown, but possibly 10 years old.

Edited January 7, 2020 by samtam

[samtam]

20 hours ago, bangkokequity said:

Is it really so difficult to write a posting with basic information .. like ... the city you are in ... the general age and type of laptop ...etc. ??? If you were in Bangkok .. I could tell you exactly who to give them to.  Too tired to do the detective work to figure out where you are. 

3 more:

 

 

Welcome any ideas about how to remove HD, as there does not appear to be an obvious "hatch"; the ones shown do not contain the HD.

 

 

 

[samtam]

1 hour ago, samtam said:

Bangkok. One is NEC:

I don't even know which is a hard drive to remove, as neither opened section looks like one to me.

 

Hard drive replaced in 2003.

Bought prior to that, not sure when.

Thanks for your help. Sorry for making your life so tiresome.

Model number:

 

Photos the right way round:

 

[samtam]

37 minutes ago, samtam said:

HP model. HD removed:

 

Age unknown, but possibly 10 years old.

Photo the right way round: