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