They used to recycle them for free but now you have cough up. I have two sitting side by side. One is a Packard Bell with Windows 95. It seems indestructible but of course is obsolete. What I like about it is that it has Works for word processing and spreadsheet but I can't find a printer cartridge that I trust that isn't re-manufactured and that doesn't cost as bunch. Then I would like to update the computer but how? The other computer is a 2006 HP tower with an intermittent problem which seems to be caused by a bad connection somewhere that just appeared after about 10 years. If I pound on the tower just right all is fine for a while anyway. It has Works too. One day I'll find it. It has Vista so I would love update that as well but how. Sure I could buy, buy, buy but there is more satisfaction in improvising a solution. Any geeks out there?
I have about ten of them in my library, most of which are functional. I keep thinking maybe I'll install Linux on them, or old versions of DOS, but I never get around to it.
If anyone needs to run dos Lotus 123 version 3.1, in a desktop computer using Windows7 32 bits, I can help.
I'm no geek but I doubt that these computers can be updated using Windows updates. There aren't even updates for Windows 7 any more let alone for earlier versions. All you can do is use them the way they are, i.e., without adding any new software because there will most likely be all sorts of compatibility problems.
Any old electronics I have is gone because I take it all to Best Buy. They've taken old phones, printers,cables,etc
Staples recycles all that old stuff too. My son strips down old computers and salvages what he can and recycles the rest.
I remove the hard drive, put a couple of slugs into them and toss them on a fire. The rest I take to the landfill which has an electronics dumpster. The county mandates the recycling bins at the landfill as a prerequisite for the landfill permit.
There are places online where you can download old computer programs, including operating systems. Plus, several of the implementations of Linux are designed to be run on old computers, meaning that you could have a perfectly functional computer on Linux that would have been obsolete running Windows. Most Linux implementations are come with desktops that look very much like Windows or Mac and most people wouldn't have much trouble figuring it out.
All electronic gadgets are recycled for free. I remove the hard drive and give it "special treatment" . Then I hit the laptop with a hammer all over and take it to the recycling service.
Old cellphones will sell on eBay, even old Tracphones. We used to have about a dozen of them around the house and they all sold, some for a pretty good amount of money. They are probably being used to detonate explosives in the MidEast now.
On an old computer, the hard drive can be reformatted to erase everything on it, but on our last desktop, I took out the hard drive. Gave the tower (computer), monitor and keyboard to Best Buy. An old monitor and keyboard, most of the time, will not match up with a new/newer computer. I will do the same with the old laptop we have. Will try to get the hard drive out of the laptop, if I can't, will reformat it, then give it to Best Buy.