Answered Question

spikezill...

M$1.00 Funded By Mahalo ? | April 01, 2009 03:45 PM

How best to recycle an OLD Apple iBook with the hard drive still in place?

I have a 10 year old blue and white handled iBook (circa 1999?) that hasn't worked in at least 6 or 7 years. The battery is long gone, I have no power plugs, and I believe the power port is broken anyway in addition to missing keys.

That said, I wish to recycle this computer and get it out of my life. But I cannot remove the hard drive! I've popped the keyboard and taken a screwdriver to everything I can see, but the hard drive is embedded so far down in the frame that I cannot see how to remove the drive short of taking a hacksaw to the plastic.

I am concerned about identity theft. I don't remember what's on this drive and I'm not sure how smart casting it off at my local electronics recycling will be.

If I am having such a hard time getting to the drive, I assume it would be just as hard for any other person.

Can I recycle this computer with Apple since its one of their older models, or will my local electronics recycling be good enough? How much should I worry about the drive being in the case since I'm pretty sure no one can get to it?

Thank you for your advice!

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ssharon

April 01, 2009 04:09 PM

I have similar concerns regarding data privacy and so I would take the effort to remove the hard drive. If you take the laptop to Apple they will recycle it for you, but that probably means passing it along to the same untrustworthy recyclers you may have given it to personally.

Lucky for you, it isn't impossible to get the hard drive out and this guide should help you.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/iBook-G3-Clamshell-Hard-Drive/115/1
Source(s):
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/iBook-G3-Clamshell-Hard-Drive/115/1

Asker's Rating:

• Thank you! I hadn't found steps for the clamshell models, only more recent models of iBooks - I will remove the drive like I had been wishing I could, and pass along the carcass to the recyclers.

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mac5150

April 01, 2009 04:17 PM

What I would do is remove the Hard Drive, keep it and then recycle/give away the rest of the iBook. Below is a link to a great tutorial on how to remove/replace the HD fro an iBook. Looks like a lot of work but for some peace of mind, it will be worth it.
http://www.sterpin.net/uk/ddibookg4uk.htm

The you can recycle the rest of your iBook through services like these:
- http://www.gazelle.com/recycle-and-sell-laptops
- http://www.buymytronics.com/
- http://macrecycler.com/services.html

Now what to do with your hard drive. You can either keep it or destroy it. If you want to destroy it, there are a number of places that will shred it for you. Some will even give you a certificate certifying that all data on the hard drive is gone/destroyed.
http://www.datakillers.com/
http://www.harddriveshredding.net/

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