| 1. Donate It | | | | an equivalent auction site. eBay is one huge |
| One of the best things to do with an old PC? | | | | clearing house where people sell all sorts of old |
| Donate it to your local charity. There are many, | | | | stuff - computers is but one such category of |
| many families out there who do not have the | | | | goods. You can also organize a quick garage sale |
| luxury of owning even a basic computer system. | | | | and see if any of your friends or neighbors want |
| Do your part to help them get into the world of | | | | the computer. |
| computers. | | | | 4. Set Up A Server |
| Two sites that I like to visit for this purpose are | | | | If you've been meaning to learn about computers |
| National Cristina Foundation and Earth 911. Both | | | | and servers, you can use the old PC as a test |
| sites are non-profit organizations and have | | | | system. At home, I use an old PC as a file server |
| compiled a comprehensive body of information to | | | | for storing and sharing data sometimes. |
| promote computer recycling and reuse. | | | | Alternatively, you also tear apart the computer |
| One important note about donating computers - | | | | and see what its innards are like (which is what I |
| make sure you clear out and delete any personal | | | | used to do). |
| information on the drive. Simple deletion is not | | | | 5. Salvage Some Parts |
| sufficient - you will need a powerful data erasing | | | | Not the whole of your old PC needs to be thrown |
| tool like Active@ KillDisk - Hard Drive Eraser. | | | | away. You can usually salvage parts to be used in |
| 2. Trade It In | | | | a new PC, especially if you intend to build one |
| There are many computer dealers (e.g. HP) which | | | | yourself. Things like the monitor, sound card, hard |
| offer trade-in promotions on computers and | | | | drive, LAN cards, CD and DVD drives and |
| peripherals. Before you buy a new PC, see if the | | | | sometimes even computer memory can be |
| retailer can offer you any trade-in discounts. As | | | | re-used. |
| long as your old computer is in decent condition, it | | | | Conclusion |
| can fetch some money. | | | | Well, I do hope this article has given you some |
| 'Decent condition' usually refers to any | | | | insight into how you can create more value of of |
| Pentium-class notebook or desktop with a hard | | | | an old computer. So the next time you're thinking |
| drive, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. | | | | of junking an old PC, think again - there may be |
| 3. Auction It | | | | hidden potential in it yet. |
| Another option is to sell the computer on eBay or | | | | |