What Is the Best Way To Dispose of an Old Computer? – Technologist

Old electronics are some of the most challenging items to dispose of. Some people will hoard old cell phones and computers just because they aren’t sure about the security of tossing them.

To be fair, there is some truth to that. You shouldn’t throw old electronics into the regular garbage. And you should be cautious about protecting your old data, whether it includes financial, professional, medical, or personal information.

But it does take some knowledge to be safe and proficient when you throw away old computers or electronics. And who wants to have to hoard every computer you’ve ever used for the rest of your life?

How To Throw Away Old Computers Safely

How do I throw away my old computers while also protecting my sensitive information? Is there any way to make sure no one can hack into my computer files after I’ve gotten rid of my machine?

That’s what a Clark Howard listener recently asked.

Asked Mike in Oklahoma: “How do you recommend I dispose of old computers? I have a few that have stacked up over the years with my main worry being the internal hard drive(s).

“I do not know what financial data/identities that could be pulled from these relics. And I don’t know where I can get rid of these without further worry.”

Clark thanked Mike on the podcast. Because Mike’s question has come up often in the past. But it has been a while since Clark addressed it.

“When I am getting rid of a computer, I first take the cabinet [tower] apart if it’s a traditional desktop,” Clark says. “But most everybody uses laptops. I remove the hard drive from the laptop before I turn the computer into a recycling center.”

In theory, someone could break into an electronics recycling center and find a lot of old computer hard drives. From there, it’s possible to commit identity theft.

Christa, Clark’s podcast producer, asked Clark how he learned to find and remove a hard drive from a desktop computer or a laptop. YouTube, perhaps? (There are a lot of videos on YouTube demonstrating how to remove hard drives.)

Clark responded and said he’s not sure how he learned it. He also held up his podcast laptop to the camera on the YouTube version of the show to demonstrate that some laptops make it challenging to get inside them and remove the hard drive.

How To Wipe a Hard Drive on an Old Computer You’re Throwing Away or Donating

It’s also possible to “wipe” a hard drive clean.

Best Buy has a guide on how to wipe a Windows hard drive, for example. The company also claims to have recycled nearly 3 billion pounds of electronics from 2009 to March 2023.

I can’t speak to the veracity of programs such as DBAN, that delete the contents of any hard drive, but many people strongly recommend them.

It’s possible to still recover information from a hard drive that has been wiped and reset, though. At least for the most proficient hackers.

“Really, really good hackers — really experienced hackers say wiping a [hard] drive is not enough,” Clark says. “I mean, you’ve got to get really unlucky for a computer that you put in for recycling, you wipe the drive and then somebody still figures out how to get your personal information off of it.”

If you want to be extra careful, you can destroy the hard drive with a hammer or with power tools. Many people take a power drill and put it through their old hard drive.

“Some recycling centers, if you call around to where you’re thinking of going, they’ll drill the hard drive right in front of you,” Christa says. “So if they’re doing something like that, that’s a good thing too.”

Clark says that he used to take old company computers to a now-closed recycling center that would drill through his hard drives in front of him.

Final Thoughts

With great power comes great responsibility. The age of technology allows us to connect internationally, do business from anywhere, learn just about anything and more.

But it also means that our computers often contain sensitive personal information. And that we need to sometimes take extra precautions and learn new skills to protect our finances and other sensitive areas of our lives.