GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

What is the environmentally safe way to dispose of a dead computer? I don't want to just put it in some collection bin where some tech-savvy sickophile can dumpster dive, fix it and get my info/kid pics. I tried taking it apart, but it won't open and I'm afraid if it does, something will break (like the LCD screen) and then there will be an e-waste hazard spill.

i took mine to the local solid waste authority/recycling center. as for the hard drive, i took it out, disassembled it, removed the disks and put the remaining pieces back in the tower. im not sure if that is 100% hackerproof but i figured that all the info i wanted safe was on the hard drive...my friends and i came up with inventive ways to destroy the disks. we have a metal and wood shop at work so we obliterated them in a dozen different ways.

Get a friend to open your computer and remove the hard drive. Smash that with a hammer and throw it out. DressedInBlack has the right idea.

throw it off a bridge

Remove hard drive and burn to ashesSend to a recycling center where they will piece it into metal and plastic and melt them down to form new products. http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserv...e.htm

Yes remove the HD and send the computer to a recycling place. Is the Hard drive any good? Need data off it? There are ways of getting it off and saving it to another compter. There are some freeware you can get from Download.com that will erase the data completely so only NSA/FBI/CIA might be able to recover it but I doubt it. LOL

Thank you, everybody...I pried it open, and have no idea what I'm looking at. Which one of these do I need to destroy?

I'm in a similar situation. My old Asus netbook has no hard drive (it's got the solid state drive built into the motherboard) and it no longer will boot up. I'm stuck with it for a while -- if I recycle it, still a chance someone may get the piece of crap to boot and snag some of my data.

Quote, originally posted by rmckinjr »Is the Hard drive any good? Need data off it? There are ways of getting it off and saving it to another compter. I was told by a free assessment place that the hard drive was bad and it would work until it's death. Eventually it would not leave that blank screen of death, and maybe some serious geek would have known how to get it off that screen, so I wasn't taking that chance. I don't need anything off of it, just want it destroyed.

What computer is that? Is it your old Acer netbook? If it is, I don't remember if the solid state drive was built into the board like my Asus or if it was a separate part. I don't see a regular hard drive there, so I thought I'd ask.

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »I'm in a similar situation. My old Asus netbook has no hard drive (it's got the solid state drive built into the motherboard) and it no longer will boot up. I'm stuck with it for a while -- if I recycle it, still a chance someone may get the piece of crap to boot and snag some of my data. Exactly! It would start up, then the 'checking disk' page come up and just get stuck there.

We *think* it is the 2nd piece from the bottom in the lower left. The piece on the lower left is the RAM. The one above that looks like it could be your SSD. But if in doubt, just smash it all since you're recycling it, IMO.

Yeah, can you get us a closeup of that part?

Yep, Acer Aspire One bit the dust.

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Yeah, can you get us a closeup of that part? OK...let me see what kind of pics I can get at 7:19pm LOL. Hold on...

I found a pic of some model Aspire One's solid state drive, I think it is the piece Kari pointed out.

be back online later...somebody giving me drama, time for the stupid penguin cartoon on hulu again until she falls asleep...

http://www.komando.com Has about an answer for almost any computer question. I used to receive her emails once a day with tips and what not. Some pretty helpful stuff!

Yup, your solid state drive looks to be the one on the left. It looks to match closely with this ssd. So go to town on that one. Middle is wireless card and the right is your RAM.

hahaaaa...thank you thank you thank you...I will!

Ah, recycle it. It will end up on a ship to a 3rd world country where some mother of small children will melt the plastics and metals down in the family dinner pot to make a few pennies, she'll skim off the lead and copper, dump the valueless remainders to harden into a lump in the yard. Now it's dinner time so she'll cook up the evening meal in the heavy metal encrusted pot!!Sad but true.Dave