Rank: Forum user 
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Hi
We’ve just replaced some laptops/PCs of varying ages, and we’re thinking about allowing staff to buy them at a very nominal rate with the money going to our nominated charity.
The IT guys will “DBAN”(?) them and put a basic OS on them, so no data protection issues, and they will refuse to support them thereafter (in company time).
I’d like the electricians to give the cables, etc. the once over, too.
Two queries:
1 – anything else come to mind from a H&S perspective that I’ve missed?
2 – do we have any Environmental obligations (say under WEEE?), going forward – this feels like a “re-use” rather than disposal, per se, but I’m not sure.
I’ve tried searching this forum and the www, but can’t find anything that answers that last point definitively (or obviously I wouldn’t be here……. :-) )
Any help gratefully received.
Tenn1svet
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi Ron
That's another possibility we've discussed, just trying to get the dominoes in line on each of them!
Thanks.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I have heard you cannot completely erase a hard drive.
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Rank: Super forum user
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A licenced OS?
I only ask because any OS licenced to the company will inevitably not be for sale.
And if anyone wants to extract data from a fixed disk that has been formatted and then had another operating system installed, good luck to them!
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Hi guys
Thanks for the tips - The IT dept. "should" be on top of the OS and hard drive issues, but I'll pass them on - I can cope with the withering looks and sarky comments (is it just our IT guys?). All stuff will be turned off and on again as a special precaution!
I was more concerned about potential safety/environmental issues.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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What would be the difference if you gave them away or sold them. In my opinion if you have the hard drive stuff under control and have the cables tested, sell them to employees and give a receipt 'bought as seen'
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Your item 2 This seems to answer your question :- http://www.recycling4you.co.uk/weee-complianceI only repair or upgrade computers, am I a producer? NO under the WEEE directive and the DTI guidance if you replace a component in the course of a repair or upgrade to a computer then you are not classed as the producer. Also if you repair and then sell second hand equipment you are not a producer and have no responsibilities under the WEEE directive.
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Rank: Forum user
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Chris42
Many thanks - just what I'd tried (and failed) to find.
Tenn1svet
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Rank: Forum user
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I think that your IT knows how to erase a hard disk reasonably well. As for an OS, that's no issue either. Your IT probably already has selected a non-commercial Linux distribution. Right?
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Rank: Super forum user
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Highly unlikely.
Most just format the drive and leave the OS to the new user.
Linux is nice, but not if you are a home user used to windows.
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Rank: Forum user
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JohnMurray wrote:Highly unlikely.
Most just format the drive and leave the OS to the new user.
Linux is nice, but not if you are a home user used to windows. Depends. In my company all HDs are reliably wiped once a PC is given back to the IT department. Users even can do that themselves before returning their PC. The wiping goes beyond just deleting files, which only would remove file information from the file system without removing the data contained in these files. (As I dealt with HD technology and file systems, I know that such wiping works well enough to prevent even the NSA from reconstructing erased data.) As for Linux, in these days it's probably easier to deal with a clean Linux distribution than to get used to Windows 10 or whatsoever ;-). As an example, for my 79 year old mother it was very easy to move from XP to Linuxmint (with the conservative no-nonsense MATE desktop). Some Linux distributions even are designed to support old hardware which is to be donated to charities. Anyway, the IT guys of tenn1svet's company probably know very well what to do and he therefore just can (and has to) focus on bureaucratic issues. Here I just would consult a tax adviser and make sure, that the company won't get into trouble for offering a benefit to employees.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Not really.
I just installed W10 on my laptop. No problems. Drivers and all.
Next I will re-partition the disk and install a new copy of Linux-Mint 17 to dual-boot. I expect that several drivers will need to be manually installed, as is fairly normal. I expect, given it is an LTS issue, to have no problems for a few years.
My desktop is dual-boot with Linux Mint 17 and W7 existing on the same drive (not really the same quality of printer drivers available for Linux as for windows)
I prefer Linux, mainly because updates are installed cleanly, and do not suffer the hissy-fits that Windows throws up occasionally. Itunes doesn't work anywhere near as well on Linux.....
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Rank: Super forum user
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Just found the ON button to my lap top, anyone know what to do next?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Invictus wrote:Just found the ON button to my lap top, anyone know what to do next? in the words of the great Phil Collins; "turn it off, turn it on again!"
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