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
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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
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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 do understand. These days I try to hoard only simulations and PDFs. I used to have a lot of stuff in my office. Computer and calculator related things covering about 30 years, mid-1970's through 2008. We lived in a row house and a kid two doors down was playing with matches the Monday afternoon before Thanksgiving 2008. Took out seven homes. The brick firewall between houses helped a lot, but the rear building extensions over the last hundred years did not extend them so the back of the houses burned hot. For us my office took the brunt of it along with my little personal museum. Family pictures were in the front of the house and were undamaged and that was more important. It became was an exercise in downsizing. For a while it seemed like I was always needing something that I lost. Now not as much. Been about 10 years since I needed an 16-bit ISA 3Com card. What I really miss is the technical documentation and software I had of some old equipment. Specifically for 1970's and early 80's Canon computers. I was working with a guy that had one of the first computers I worked with and helped fill in some of the gaps from my memory. If I still had those bookshelves I could have provided it to Archive.org. I've managed to hoard less since then. Yesterday I was looking at a Healthkit Microprocessor trainer on eBay. I talked myself out of it because I knew probably wouldn't get to spend much time with it. It would collect dust.
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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 some of it, Pennsylvania requires recycling e-waste, and there are several companies who collect it. For some other of it, maybe you have a local community college you could donate it to. After the COVID work-from-home period, I was required to work in the office. I use one PC, one wide monitor, and an inherited ink jet printer in a big airy office, since I am the manager, now. The guys tried to get me to accept a second monitor, but I don't want it. The guy who works for me has my old office, much smaller, with 4 PCs and 4 monitors, and a KVM switch. I tell them I like my life simple. I used to use the multiple PCs for Linux, various servers of all sorts. But we've moved to the cloud, tech support is so hopelessly dependent on Microsoft, and I am too old to try to change things.
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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 side with your wife. Hoarding is NOT about HOW you acquired things. It's about not getting rid of things! you have a lot to be grateful for. First, that you could afford those things without selling some of them, etc. And that you have the SPACE to have all of that stuff! But if you are NOT using it. Have no plans to TRULY use it... Time to get rid of it. So, here is an easy approach. Take ONE thing a month, that you have NOT USED in a LONG time. Put it in a box. Date the box with the date that YOU ACCEPT it's probably not going to be used ever again. (This says nothing about having "value", this is about taking up space/energy/etc). Then give your wife permission to toss the boxes on those dates. (This lets you avoid the psychological impact of "loss" by building to it, and not forcing you to go without something). Also, I would probably put the wife in charge of your Tech Budget money. one of her Strings is removing old stuff BEFORE buying new stuff, or sticking to the protocol. That will give her some control, and she will be able to see progress... Think of it has HARDWARE DEBT. you are accumulating it without REFACTORING your space!
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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
IMO, 45 years in this business would mean you'd have a lot more hardware if you truly were a hoarder. Clearly, you already do get rid of stuff occasionally.
Slow Eddie wrote:
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?
Avoid that fate by disposing of the wife? :laugh:
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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've had gotten rid of quite a bit of the old computer stuff by handing it down the the kids and grandkids. You might also be able to find some use for those old computers. I've got 3 of my old computers used as 'smarts' for our TVs. I like the control and extra features they provide over the builtin smarts that came with the TVs. Oh, make it a 2 story 12' x 10' shed! :)
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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
Best Buy stores take electronics of most kinds for recycling for free. I think they have a limit of 3 devices per day power customer. So for all your old gear, you could be rid of them safely in around 2 weeks or so.
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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
When I dispose of old hard drives, I completely disassemble them to get to the platters then use a screwdriver or something to scratch up and bend the platters. Nobody is going to get anything off of a bent, scratched up platter. Plus, when you do this, you end up with a bunch of REALLY powerful little magnets!! The only thing you need is the appropriate TORX bit (I think a T10 or T15).
