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Step 1
Uninstall any applications you plan to use on your next computer. (Make sure you have the installation disks and serial numbers.)
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Step 2
Purge the computer of all personal information. It's not enough to drag documents to the Trash. Use a utility program to permanently delete or overwrite sensitive documents, then reformat the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. Professional data-recovery firms can also do this.
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Step 3
Collect the original software disks and manuals for the operating system that came with the computer.
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Step 4
Find out what your computer is worth by following online auctions, then put it up for auction too, or go through the classifieds. Don't expect to rake it in; old computers aren't worth much.
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Step 5
Donate the computer to a school, charity or recycling center. Recyclers may charge a fee. Get a receipt for tax purposes.











Comments
sabrina22 said
on 7/1/2009 Donate to Computer Aid International- a great scheme that donates computers to developing countries
http://www.computeraid.org/
BlueOx said
on 10/24/2008 Great tips.
celebritynow said
on 1/29/2007 Thanks! I would not have thought to donate my old computer to a school; my daughter goes to Pre-School. I'm going to ask them if they have room for it; they don't have any computers there now. I'm sure that they will probably find a way to make the room... as these 4 year olds are better on the computer than I am! Thanks again!
Anonymous said
on 2/10/2006 Deleting only tells Windows to pretend it isn't there. Formatting is a little different, but it doesn't actually remove the data, either.
Use Darik's Boot and Nuke to actually destroy the data on any internal drive. I don't have the address handy, but I am certain that Google does.
DBAN is 100% free. But please send him a donation as an encouragement to develop the program to include USB and other networked drives before I need to wipe one.