How to dispose of an old imac?

The power surge that occurs in a lightning storm is not always what kills an older Mac. Sometimes it is merely confused (not killed) by the power outage that follows. Because the PRAM Backup battery may be old, it may not be strong enough to maintain the parameters and keep the Power Management Unit working properly.

Consider replacing (or removing temporarily) the backup battery, and afterward, while it is open, press the tiny button labeled CUDA Reset on the motherboard. This diagram will show you the location of those components:

http://www.macgurus.com/products/motherboards/mbppcimacorig.php

The best (non-nuclear) way to thoroughly erase the data on your hard drive is to initialize with the "Write Zeroes" or "Zero all Data" option. This removes almost all traces of your data, and only the US National Security Agency (NSA) could get back part of it if they invested huge amounts of time, energy and lab equipment. If removed from your iMac, that drive could be installed in a desktop Mac or an external enclosure to be Zeroed. There are also "non-enclosures" for as little as US$20 that can power the drive and supply a USB interface so that it can be zeroed or re-used.

A working iMac can still be used by some not-for-profits. Many schools prefer Macs that are 10.5 Leopard-capable. (G4 or better.)

Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder

If it won't boot up so that you can wipe the hard drive, remove the drive & then dispose of the Mac. You can mount the old drive in an external housing if you need to retrieve the data on the drive. If you don't need the data, get a hammer & smash the drive. That will secure the data.

 Cheers, Tom

I had so many of those computers it was crazy! I used to buy them for cheap and frankenstein then together. The first time I did this was when I needed a new CRT. My FlyBack Terminal cooked and a column of smoke rose from my computer. I pulled the computer out of the bottom and went on Craigslist to find one with a good CRT but a bad Computer. It was like playing with legos.

Maybe you could put an ad on Craigslist for free and have the person buying it remove the hard drive and give it to you. Then you can stick that drive in another mac tower and do whatever you want to it.

Hope that helped out.

I am trying to dispose of 2 G4 towers, that are not working properly.
one won't start up at all anymore. so I want to take out the hard drive so my info is secure but I don't know how to do it.
any help?

Shannon

a) www.mac-sales.com has some online videos on how to swap hard drives so you could just go through the first half.

b) As a previous poster suggested, post on Craigslist. If they really aren't working you might even consider posting them as "free" providing the recipient removes the hard drives on the spot (should only take a few minutes per computer) and hands them to you. If you put a G4, even broken, as free on Craigslist I can guarantee you that you will get a response (probably many, many) in a few minutes. Alternatively you could ask for some very low dollar amount, but I know when I see a broken computer on Craigslist for sale I get put off by all the unknown factors and if it will be worth all my time and money for what may be a true piece of junk. Mind you, I'm not into gambling.

I'd rather dispose of a PC than a Mac.. my advice is try craigslist or if not, ebay. What is actually wrong with those G4s? Gee, I wonder if the same will be said 20 years from now about a 3ghz mac pro? Yes, I don't cater too well to Intel.

Those little drive discs make lovely windchimes if you don't mind your data hanging around by your back door. Screwdriver...

Nadav,

It will only take eight to ten years to say the same about a mac pro. I closed a computer store when the G4 was announced and undercut the blue and white G3.

Jim