It has come to my attention that some people actually get rid of their old computers. I say this sarcastically because when I get a new computer, I generally don’t get rid of the old one. The old one may not get used as much as it once did, but I always feel that somewhere down the road I may have a use for it. Another thing that I have been known to do is to cannibalize the old one and use the parts for other machines or projects.

Things that can be easily cannibalized from an old computer are the CD Burner or CD Rom, hard drive, floppy drives, power supply, and cables and in some cases the modem, and memory. Depending on your interest in computers, you may also want to remove as many screws as possible and keep them for future use. After removing any parts that you feel you may possibly want to use in the future for one thing or another, you can just throw the rest away or dispose of it in a more proper and environmentally friendly manner.

If you are not a person who is interested in the internal workings of a computer and have an old computer that you no longer need or want, you may be concerned about getting rid of the computer in a manner that will make sure that your data will not fall in to the wrong hands, especially if you have financial records on the old computer.

After backing up the data so that you will still have it, there are a number of ways to make sure that the information does not fall in to the wrong hands. One method of doing this is to put in the system restore CD and completely reformat the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. By reformatting the hard drive, the old data will be gone forever.

If that is not good enough for you, there are programs available that will securely erase any information on the computer and write random bits on to the drive up to three times. After using one of these programs, you can either leave the hard drive blank or reinstall the operating system for the next person.

Another method that can be used is to remove the hard drive and keep it (or install it in to your new computer for extra storage space) or destroy it. Destroying a hard drive can be a fun, interesting, and educational experience. You could then pass the computer on without a hard drive and let the next owner buy any hard drive they desire to put in to the machine.