We have a couple of older computers, a laptop and a desktop that we need to get rid of but I hate to just throw them away. Are there any organizations that take older PC's and give them to schools or kids who need them?
You're probably going to have a hard time finding a school or similar oganization willing to take old computers. They end up being more trouble than they're worth, as most are unusable and then the school has to pay for their disposal. On that note, you can't just throw away a computer or laptop. They need to be disposed of properly, especially the batteries and monitors. If you think either still has some value (ie. they're not more than 3 or 4 years old), I'd list them on ebay as a starter computer for a kid or parts. Or Craigslist.
Good idea^, even freecycle or cl freestuff if you get no bites from somebody wanting to purchase them.
IF YOU LOOK IN THE CLASSIFIED LISTING FOR COMPUTERS, THERE'S A MAN IN CLAYTON THAT IS LOOKING FOR COMPUTERS TO REPAIR, USE FOR PARTS. HE WILL GIVE YOU SOME MONEY AND PICK THEM UP. GOOD LUCK!!HIS NAME IS JOE. I HAVE A COUPLE TO LET HIM TAKE, I ALSO HAVE A NEW 17" MONITOR.
How do you clean everything off? I have some old tax info on an old one and want to clean it off before giving it away..
One way is to reformat the hard drive, but the best way is to have the hard drive "wiped". Of course, if you do that, you'll have to reinstall the OS but all your personal info will be gone. Mike
Charities that refurbish probably won't take anything less than PIII, and many of them now refuse anything less than P4. Donating to charities will get you a tax receipt that is a much higher value than an amount of cash that someone will pay you. I donate to The Purple Elephant (purpleelephant.org) in Raleigh and they say that they do accept "old and non-working CPUs". To wipe your own hard drive: http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/page5726.cfm I use DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) mostly, DoD 5220.22-M method, 7 passes.
That's what I need. I've got an 80G I took out of an old ME and want to use it as a slave drive my XP machine. Mike
http://www.purpleelephant.org/ This is a very good organization in Raleigh. They donate to children in need. I have donated to them several times.
