What to do with old IT equipment? This is a question I am asked a lot. People often come to me with their old laptop/PC and ask me what they can do with it. Sometimes their laptop isn’t particularly old and can be revived by doing a complete rebuild and installing Windows again – and if the hard drive is replaced by an SSD (Solid State Drive), then often this can make all the difference by making your laptop become much faster. However, not all laptops/PCs can be upgraded like this and the time may have come to say goodbye to it.
This sadly, brings with it the problem of what to do with your old laptop/PC? What will happen to your data that’s on the hard drive?
You could any of the following:
- Take it to the tip. But this could mean a terrible waste of materials, plus your data will still be on the hard drive. Even if you knew how to reformat your hard drive so that your data is erased, it still means hardware that is going to end up in landfill.
- Use one of the online companies that will pick up your laptop/PC and wipe the hard disk for you and send you a receipt. There are many companies that do this – I have used cashinyourgadgets.com and found them very efficient.
- Give them to charity. One such charitable project is organised by Warren Milburn of Munki Computer Help (https://www.munkicomputerhelp.com). Warren is based in Greenside and started his Million People Project with the aim of lifting 1 million people out of digital exclusion by the time he retires. He’ll take redundant laptops, tablets, refurbish them where possible and give them away to families in need. If he can’t refurbish them, he’ll strip them for parts and use them to upgrade other tech.
If you have no more need for your laptop, I would be contacting Warren who will safely and securely put your laptop to good use – much better than putting into landfill.
As always, if you’d like a friendly chat about your IT queries, please give me a call 0785 509 2227.