Post by susancinpa on Mar 1, 2019 20:25:19 GMT
Okay, so our really old (Windows XP) desktop up and died last weekend. No warning, just quietly decided to go. The CPU will not respond, no response whatsoever when we hit the power button.
So, before we take it to the electronic recycling, should I take it somewhere to have the hard drive cleared? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm afraid that someone could access information on the hard drive and access accounts or private records. In our county, you have to wait for when they offer a day to drop off your electronics as they can't be disposed of as regular trash. They charge so much per pound for electronics. I don't know where they haul these off to after you dispose of them, so I don't know if someone would try harvesting hard drives/parts from the items. Of course, the next county over you can take them to the trash facility at any time and they don't charge. I believe you need to be a resident of that county, but I'd still have the concern of whether someone could access any password/login information for accounts that was on the computer.
I didn't have too much on there that I didn't have backed up, but there were 3-4 files I would really like to have a chance to recover if it wouldn't cost too much. They're not worth that much to me to dish out $$$ for. Don't know if a computer place could do that cost effectively or not.
Any computer pros out there have any input or advice regarding my security paranoia?
TIA!!
So, before we take it to the electronic recycling, should I take it somewhere to have the hard drive cleared? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm afraid that someone could access information on the hard drive and access accounts or private records. In our county, you have to wait for when they offer a day to drop off your electronics as they can't be disposed of as regular trash. They charge so much per pound for electronics. I don't know where they haul these off to after you dispose of them, so I don't know if someone would try harvesting hard drives/parts from the items. Of course, the next county over you can take them to the trash facility at any time and they don't charge. I believe you need to be a resident of that county, but I'd still have the concern of whether someone could access any password/login information for accounts that was on the computer.
I didn't have too much on there that I didn't have backed up, but there were 3-4 files I would really like to have a chance to recover if it wouldn't cost too much. They're not worth that much to me to dish out $$$ for. Don't know if a computer place could do that cost effectively or not.
Any computer pros out there have any input or advice regarding my security paranoia?
TIA!!
