[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] recycling computers

OLGA P GUTTAG opg1000 at rcn.com
Mon Feb 20 12:12:04 PST 2023 

There are multiple organization that bring old computers back to life and donate them to entities that have need for computing but at a very low complexity (senior centers for email correspondence, …). 

Rather than frying your computers or destroying the disks plse consider taking the effort of wiping the disc clean and donating your old computer to one of these up-cycling groups. I bet there are many very poor people in our rural areas and in the rest of the world who would be happy to get your discarded computer.

Stay well,
Olga

> On Feb 20, 2023, at 3:00 PM, Ted Kochanski <tedpkphd at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> If you bake a computer in your oven -- I doubt that any recycler would want to get the remnants from you
> There are plenty of things inside the computer and even inside the Hard drive not compatible with that temperature
> 
> If all you want to do is destroy the computer -- take the cord coming from the power adapter to the computer and cut it -- then cut the cord on the other side of the power adapter so that the power adapter is not connected.  Now just splice the cords together -- don't worry about the polarity
> Now plug the computer into the wall and stand back -- the 120 VAC applied to the computer will fritz many if not all of the semiconductors -- leaving a totally non functional smoking heap of stuff
> 
> The data might still be on the disk platters of the Hard Drive but without disassembling the drive and remounting the platters on a new spindle with new heads there is no way to get to it
> 
> Taking a drill and drilling through the hard drive is equally as effective
> 
> But --why bother?
> 
> Ted
> 
> On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 2:05 PM Larry Wittig <9423lew at gmail.com <mailto:9423lew at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> If you're going to bake, as I suggested,it might be good to first remove the PCB.
>> 
>> On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 1:59 PM Larry Wittig <9423lew at gmail.com <mailto:9423lew at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> One easy way to erase the HDD is to bake it in your oven -- say 400 degrees F for 1 hour.
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 1:09 PM Ted Kochanski <tedpkphd at gmail.com <mailto:tedpkphd at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>> All,
>>>> 
>>>> It all depends on what is the sensitivity of the stuff on the disk -- if it is National Security stuff -- then crushing or grinding, melting, etc is what you to make sure nothing can be recovered
>>>> I we are talking bank accounts, and such that is far too too much effort for the reduction of risk -- there are commercial programs which do a fairly good job
>>>> 
>>>> for example the now Infamous Bleachbit
>>>> from the wikipedia article
>>>> BleachBit is a free and open-source disk space cleaner, privacy manager, and computer system optimizer. The BleachBit source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
>>>> 
>>>> History
>>>> BleachBit was first publicly released on 24 December 2008 for Linux systems.[3] The 0.2.1 release created some controversy[4] by suggesting Linux needed a registry cleaner.
>>>> 
>>>> Version 0.4.0 introduced CleanerML,[5] a standards-based markup language for writing new cleaners. 
>>>> On May 29, 2009, BleachBit version 0.5.0 added support for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.[6] 
>>>> On September 16, 2009, version 0.6.4 introduced command-line interface support.[7]
>>>> 
>>>> BleachBit is available for download through its website and the repositories of many Linux distributions.
>>>> 
>>>> www.bleachbit.org <https://www.bleachbit.org/>
>>>> Features
>>>> Identifying and removing Web cache, HTTP cookies, URL history, temporary files log files and Flash cookies for Firefox, Opera, Safari, APT, Google Chrome
>>>> Removing unused localizations (also called locale files) which are translations of software
>>>> Shredding files and wiping unallocated disk space to minimize data remanence
>>>> Wiping unallocated disk space to improve data compression ratio for disk image backups
>>>> Vacuuming Firefox's SQLite database which suffers fragmentation
>>>> Command line interface for scripting automation and headless operation
>>>> 
>>>> Written in	Python <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)>
>>>> Operating system <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system>	Microsoft Windows <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows>
>>>> macOS <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS>
>>>> Linux <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux>
>>>> Size <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_size>	11.5-12.2 MB <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabyte> (Windows)
>>>> Available in	64 languages[2] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BleachBit#cite_note-2>
>>>> Type <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_categories#Categorization_approaches>	Disk cleaner <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_cleaner>
>>>> License <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license>	GNU General Public License <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License>
>>>> Website	www.bleachbit.org <https://www.bleachbit.org/>
>>>> 
>>>> Ted
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 12:30 PM Edward Lipman <edward.lipman at gmail.com <mailto:edward.lipman at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>> For $39 I'd use my own hammer!
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 9:51 AM <jjrudy1 at comcast.net <mailto:jjrudy1 at comcast.net>> wrote:
>>>>>> FYI
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>  
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> A friend has two OLD laptops.  One with Windows XP, the other Windows 7.  I called both Staples and Best Buy both of which will take them (and a lot of other stuff) at no cost.  However it does not include wiping the disk.  Staples offers that service @$29 each, and Best Buy @39 each.  Neither could explain to me what a full erase means (for all I know they may open the case and use a hammer).
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>  
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> John Rudy
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>  
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 781-861-0402
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 781-718-8334  cell
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 13 Hawthorne Lane
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Bedford MA
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> jjrudy1 at comcast.net <mailto:jjrudy1 at comcast.net>
>>>>>> <image001.png>
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>  
>>>>>> 
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