What should you do with your old computer? It is extremely easy to replace your old system with a new one but then you have the problem of getting rid of the old one. If you are like most people, the old system will end up in a closet or in the garage. This is the easiest method that most of the individuals as well as businesses use to get rid of old stuff. Most of us think that there is the chance that we might find a use for the old stuff so we think we need to keep it. This is also the reason that there are so many cars parked in the driveway in front of the house, because they could not get in the garage if they had to.

There are many options that are available to you whether you are an individual or a business. It does not change what you should do but only what you are required to do. Whether it is business or personal, the easiest method would be to donate the old equipment to an organization that specializes in computer recycling. There is a list of recyclers available on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality website. This is a PDF file so you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available free of charge at the Adobe website.

One of the companies on the list is Corona Visions, Inc. in San Antonio. The person that I talked to on the phone stated that they will accept computers from individuals at their office free of charge. They are a for profit company so you will need to give them a call for a quote if you are trying to clean up the junk pile at the office. According to their Mission statement from the website, they are committed to eliminating electronic waste ending up as landfill.

The first thing to consider is whether or not the computer is usable. If the system is still in good working order, see if you can find someone who is less fortunate than you who could use a working computer. This could mean a little work on your part but you might check with your church to see if they have a program available to help the less fortunate ones in our city. It could be that you know someone that could use the computer but you do not have the expertise to make sure that your personal data will not be found and misused if the system gets into the wrong hands.

There are plenty of computer companies that will clean your personal data from the computer for a nominal fee. Be sure that you choose a reputable company to assure yourself of a quality job. It is not sufficient to delete the information from the hard drive. After the deletion, there will need to be data written to those areas of the hard drive to remove any trace of the original data. There are a number of programs that are available for this purpose if you are inclined to do the job yourself. The chances of your data falling into the wrong hands and being misused would be minimal but that is not a chance that I would be willing to take. I have heard too many horror stories about people who have been a victim of identity theft. It would be much easier to take the risk away than to try to clear your name of wrongdoing after the fact.

If the system is dead, you will need to locate someone that will take care of disposing of the old system. The same thing applies to the data on the HDD as with a working computer. Even if the system is dead, there is still the chance that your data could fall into the wrong hands. The HDD could still be functional and if put into another system would be accessible. You would still need to follow the same procedures that you would use if giving a good computer away. A dead system would only make it a little harder for the bad guys to get at your data.

The best advice that I could give you is to make a decision when you change out the system. Don't bother to put the system in storage or in the closet. Make the decision now and get it over with. You and your garage will be much happier in the end.