Donating old Mac

[Anonymous]

I have an old Mac I want to get rid of and not sure what steps to take to wipe it clean before I donate.

[Anonymous]

There are ways to do it electronically. I just take the hard drive out, take it out to the alley, and beat the bejesus out of it with a pickax. Then the new user can install their own hard drive -- the computer is old enough they probably want a bigger-capacity one anyway.

[Anonymous]

Ok, how old a machine?

If > 5 years old, the 'donation' level to some charity or school is rather minimal. Your donation is probably to an electronics recycler bin. If this is the case, take out the hard drive, physically using a screwdriver, and smash it with a hammer or power drill and throwing that bit in the bin.

If you want to donate to a school, you'll probably need to give them a machine with hard drive and operating system already, so you may have a slight expense and reinstallation process (which depending on the machine may or may not be worth it).