Donate Your Old PC

Determine if your old computer can be reused.

Contact Us on how to get use your PC

If you have a computer that is less then eight years old, chances are that it can be put to good use by someone else. Rather than donate equipment directly to a charity or school, however, it is usually best for all involved if you can send it to US, especially if you need to wipe your hard drive or are uncertain about the computer's condition. Refurbishers will ensure that equipment they send to nonprofits and schools works well and runs legal copies of software, and that any e-waste is disposed of properly. Remember that PC Box Services work with newer equipment that can run current Internet programs, so if your computer is more than eight years old, it's better to send it to a commercial recycler.

If you clear your computer of personal information yourself, it's best to use disk-cleaning software.

"Personal information" includes your Internet browser's cache, cookies, history; your email contacts and messages; your documents; your recycle or trash folder; and all nontransferable software. The best way to clear this is with a disk-cleaning utility that overwrites all the sectors of your hard drives, making your data unrecoverable. Listed below are examples of recommended disk-cleaning utilities.

Commercial Windows Disk-Cleaning Software:

• Blancco Data Cleaner (WAN Server editions available at TechSoup Stock) 
• WipeDrive

Freeware Windows Disk-Cleaning Software: 

• Active@ Kill Disk Hard Drive Eraser
• Darik's Boot and Nuke

Macintosh Disk-Cleaning Software:

• Disk Utility (built-in in Mac OS X, under "Security Options")
• WipeDrive for Mac

If the computer is still under a manufacturer's warranty, you can also call the company's technical services department and ask for specifics on how to delete personal files.

• According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Plug in to eCycling program, only 15% to 20% percent of retired personal computers, TVs, cell phones and other electronic devices are being recycled in the United States (latest statistics are from 2007).
• Every computer dumped into a landfill represents a missed opportunity to provide Information-Age tools to individuals and organizations across the digital divide.
• Well-meaning companies that donate out-of-date computer systems directly to schools and nonprofits -- rather than through a recycler or a refurbisher -- can end up passing on more of a burden than a blessing.