Like most businesses, you’ve probably decided to upgrade and replace a few computers. Once that’s all wrapped up, you’ll find yourself with the old computers, and you’ll need to decide what to do with them.
For many, there is a strong temptation to save these old devices. People store them in a closet or storage room “just in case we need them again”, only to forget about them for 10 years. This is understandable, but far from the best thing to do with old machines. Ideally, they would be recycled. Why recycle? There are a ton of reasons, but primarily because there’s no point in keeping old machines. Their real value lies in the data, and this should have been transferred for you when you got your new computers. In addition, it may be a security risk to have these old machines sitting in storage. If they are ever stolen, valuable information and data would still be stored on them. There could be sensitive data such as usernames, passwords, banking/credit card information stored in places you wouldn’t thing to look, like temp files or “cookies”.
If you’re looking to recycle, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Make sure that your data has been fully transferred before recycling a computer
- Do NOT throw computers into the trash, take them to a business qualified for recycling technology
- Make sure that your hard drives are being properly wiped of all your old data (many places will be able to provide certification of destruction)
Looking for more info? Click here to schedule a call with an ETC team member.
