I'm an equipment junkie....
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
You can make thermite by mixing equal parts aluminum powder (grind some "tin" foil in a coffee grinder) and ferrous oxide. Light it with a sparkler. It will destroy anything. Edit: I'm not sure how safe it is, but it's fun.
Real programmers use butterflies
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
[https://www.epa.gov/recycle/electronics-donation-and-recycling\](https://www.epa.gov/recycle/electronics-donation-and-recycling)
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it. ― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
I have a lot of stuff too but not that much. If you are up for it, some of that equipment can be used for projects. Examples: - small monitors or laptops can be converted into picture frames - laptop cameras can be used as surveillance cameras - those big monitors can be converted into interactive table tops and the PCs can be used as the legs and possibly using the old motherboard/cpu/gpu to power the interactive table top - the printers might possibly be converted to 3D printers with some work and patience - make a cluster with the old computers to process data that is not critical and you do not want clogging your main PC If using all that equipment for projects is out of the question and you really want to recycle, it will depend on the regulations of where you are but: - most electronics (desktops, laptops, TVs, keyboards, mice, printers, switches, adapters, cables, etc) can go to the electronics recycling bin - the batteries either go to battery recycling bin or, if they are acid batteries, can go to a garage to be recycled as car batteries - anything holding data (hard drives, SSDs, thumb drives, etc) I would try to either shred them, spot weld them (the very high currents and heat completely rearranges the atoms in the metal) or smelt them into a uniform ingot. Either way it is best to let a professional do it but make sure they do it in front of you. You do not want to turn around and have your intact drive end up in the garbage bin or worse in someones computer. One advice though. Try to keep one of each old technologies, like one serial mouse and keyboard, one serial modem, etc. You never know when you are going to need it. Sometime ago I saved a colleague's project because I had one serial mouse, one serial keyboard and one 10base2 Ethernet ISA card. The three different modern USB to serial converters he was trying to use did not work.
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
For largish disks that you might want to reuse, you can safely erase them using DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke[^]). For anything under 500GB, just use hammer to drive a nail through it. You can turn one into a grinder (Ideas How To Make Knife Sharpening Machine, Grinder, Scrub from old Hard Disk Drive do it yourself - YouTube[^] unless you already have 3 others sitting around your shop (my case). For everything else, go to your local BestBuy, Staples or similar. They all have e-cycling programs.
Mircea
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
Listen to your wife. you.are.a.hoarder. :rolleyes:
CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair
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You can make thermite by mixing equal parts aluminum powder (grind some "tin" foil in a coffee grinder) and ferrous oxide. Light it with a sparkler. It will destroy anything. Edit: I'm not sure how safe it is, but it's fun.
Real programmers use butterflies
honey the codewitch wrote:
You can make thermite by mixing equal parts aluminum powder (grind some "tin" foil in a coffee grinder) and ferrous oxide.
Or just order it online. Look for "rocket". As fuel goes, it rather cheap. For the reader; ferrous oxide is rusted iron. You can make this rocket fuel at home :thumbsup:
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
Slow Eddie wrote:
Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Come on, anything before a 286 should be gone by now. The rest you might want to hang on to. To be fair, I had the same problem; but a Raspberry Pi replaces all those old machines. Get rid of them, earn some man-points!
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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Slow Eddie wrote:
Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Come on, anything before a 286 should be gone by now. The rest you might want to hang on to. To be fair, I had the same problem; but a Raspberry Pi replaces all those old machines. Get rid of them, earn some man-points!
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
Hording: I have an ARCNET terminator. Among other things.
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honey the codewitch wrote:
You can make thermite by mixing equal parts aluminum powder (grind some "tin" foil in a coffee grinder) and ferrous oxide.
Or just order it online. Look for "rocket". As fuel goes, it rather cheap. For the reader; ferrous oxide is rusted iron. You can make this rocket fuel at home :thumbsup:
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
Eddy Vluggen wrote:
For the reader; ferrous oxide is rusted iron
Technically - and just so the readers don't throw chunks of pig iron into the mix - it should be pointed out that the oxide is actually just the rust, not the iron itself.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Eddy Vluggen wrote:
For the reader; ferrous oxide is rusted iron
Technically - and just so the readers don't throw chunks of pig iron into the mix - it should be pointed out that the oxide is actually just the rust, not the iron itself.
Real programmers use butterflies
Just the rust. And aluminum foil. And you need more heat to ignite than your average lighter. --edit Going full MacGyuver; red iron oxide, black alumininium and a magnesium lint. Then you place the chewing gum there.. --edit2 Iron is the "waste product" here; it is the result of the reaction.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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Just the rust. And aluminum foil. And you need more heat to ignite than your average lighter. --edit Going full MacGyuver; red iron oxide, black alumininium and a magnesium lint. Then you place the chewing gum there.. --edit2 Iron is the "waste product" here; it is the result of the reaction.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
sparklers work, as I mentioned, but some strips of magnesium and a blowtorch will do it too. i usually find the former cheaper and easier to acquire.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Hording: I have an ARCNET terminator. Among other things.
Hehehe. During my first year, I unscrewed it. Screams were heard. The entire network collapsed, because I unscrewed a tiny thingy. People were having their finals. I was told not to. So, I had to. --edit That was a local network terminator. An ARCNET terminator would be a bit worse.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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sparklers work, as I mentioned, but some strips of magnesium and a blowtorch will do it too. i usually find the former cheaper and easier to acquire.
Real programmers use butterflies
honey the codewitch wrote:
a blowtorch will do it too
as opposed to a lighter? Do you use a magnesium lint, or do you light it directly?
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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honey the codewitch wrote:
a blowtorch will do it too
as opposed to a lighter? Do you use a magnesium lint, or do you light it directly?
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
Honestly, I've never used magnesium. I've only read it can be used. Like I said, sparklers are easier to get ahold of. I've only made the stuff a couple of times. I don't weld railroad tracks together for fun or profit so I have little need for it, and my interest in it burned up pretty quickly.
Real programmers use butterflies
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
Erase the HDDs and donate the computers. Libraries and charitable organizations can always make use of those. Most everything else can easily go to a recycling center. One trip. Boom. Done.
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
For spinny-go-arounds, I drill a hole down through the housing and platters and take to the electronics recycle bin. SSD's, I just cut up (haven't had many). I turned one older workstation into a backup NAS with TrueNAS. Hmmm, now what to do with the 12 year old NAS it replaced? I take computers (sans hd's) and such and put them out next to the curb on large pick up day (unless rain is in the forecast). People comb through the neighborhood looking for such stuff and take them. We used to have a church that took old equipment and shipped it to some country in Central America. Not anymore. The only thing that did not get taken was my golf clubs, they figured they were contaminated with bad shots and vile language (no, not VB).
>64 If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
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For largish disks that you might want to reuse, you can safely erase them using DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke[^]). For anything under 500GB, just use hammer to drive a nail through it. You can turn one into a grinder (Ideas How To Make Knife Sharpening Machine, Grinder, Scrub from old Hard Disk Drive do it yourself - YouTube[^] unless you already have 3 others sitting around your shop (my case). For everything else, go to your local BestBuy, Staples or similar. They all have e-cycling programs.
Mircea
Mircea Neacsu wrote:
For largish disks that you might want to reuse, you can safely erase them using DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke[^]). For anything under 500GB, just use hammer to drive a nail through it.
I second that. I have used DBAN boot cd a couple of times and it works like charm. You need some time though. The paranoia modus needs a week or so.
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I look around my office, I work at home, and I see 7 desktop computers, 6 of which I do not use. There are also 5 laptops, only one of which I use regularly, and one I use occasionally. There are 5 printers, 1 laser, 2 inkjets that I don't use, 2 laser printers I do use, one for each desk. I have two 40" flat panel LED TV's, that I use as monitors, one for each desk. There are 5 computer monitors of varying sizes that I don't use. There are 6 external storage devices, 2 of which are Raid 5, 1 ssd and one hard disk, that I use. the other 3 I have not used in I don't know how long. I have 5 usb Memory sticks, 1 on my keychain. I use all of them on a sporadic basis. There are many, many keyboards and mice, of various configurations, 2 of which I use, 1 for each desk. I have at least 5 battery backups, only 2 that are working. The number of switches, cables, wires, and adapters are rediculous. I believe you get the picture. My wife tells me I am a hoarder, but I don't think so. They are just things I have accumulated form 45 years in the business. I would actually like to get rid of the stuff I am not using at all, but don't know how to do it safely. This is particulary true of the data storage devices as they hold customers' information. I am going to have to something in the next couple of years, when we sell the current house, build and move to something much smaller. She intends to put me in a 12' x 10' storage shed in the back yard there, and there won't be enough room for it all. Any ideas on how to safely dispose of all of th unused equipment?
Dorfl
