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  • Disposing of very old Mac

    From Martin S Taylor@21:1/5 to All on Thu Oct 10 09:42:16 2024
    A friend has two iMacs dating from 2008 which he has no use for. What's the best thing to do with them?

    Martin S Taylor

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  • From David Brooks@21:1/5 to Martin S Taylor on Thu Oct 10 10:11:28 2024
    On 10/10/2024 09:42, Martin S Taylor wrote:

    A friend has two iMacs dating from 2008 which he has no use for. What's the best thing to do with them?

    If they 'work' ..... install Linux Mint 22 on them and give them away to
    anyone needy!

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  • From Alan B@21:1/5 to Martin S Taylor on Thu Oct 10 09:26:31 2024
    Martin S Taylor <[email protected]> wrote:

    A friend has two iMacs dating from 2008 which he has no use for. What's the best thing to do with them?

    I donated my old PowerPC to a charity that refurbishes old unwanted
    computers. It’s so long ago I can’t remember the name but I think it was a nationwide outfit. Have they enough ram and HDD space to allow installation
    of older Windows but still operable OS’s. Failing that there are various Linux distributions which run quite well on old hardware. I’ve recently
    been experimenting within MX and Alpine on an old HP laptop.

    --
    Cheers, Alan

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  • From =?UTF-8?Q?J=C3=B6rg_Lorenz?=@21:1/5 to Alan B on Thu Oct 10 11:30:33 2024
    On 10.10.24 11:26, Alan B wrote:
    Martin S Taylor <[email protected]> wrote:

    A friend has two iMacs dating from 2008 which he has no use for. What's the >> best thing to do with them?

    I donated my old PowerPC to a charity that refurbishes old unwanted computers. It’s so long ago I can’t remember the name but I think it was a
    nationwide outfit. Have they enough ram and HDD space to allow installation of older Windows but still operable OS’s. Failing that there are various Linux distributions which run quite well on old hardware. I’ve recently been experimenting within MX and Alpine on an old HP laptop.

    I agree but in this case with 2008 machines I think it is time to
    recycle them.


    --
    "Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

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  • From Theo@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Oct 10 10:56:44 2024
    Jörg Lorenz <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 10.10.24 10:42, Martin S Taylor wrote:

    A friend has two iMacs dating from 2008 which he has no use for. What's the best thing to do with them?

    Bring them back to Apple for environmental friendly disposal.
    Specialised recycling companies also exist.

    The local authority household waste recycling centre (aka 'the dump') will
    have a place to recycle small electrical items.

    Generally the charities which take computers for onward reuse are only interested in those which are able to run a current OS - which today would
    be Windows 11 or ~2018 Intel Macs. Anything else opens up a box of security liability questions, and they aren't really interested in aftermarket Linux installs as that's not what their customers want. 2008 is just very very old.

    I suppose you could put them on ebay for 99p collection-only and see if
    anyone bites (or a local freebies group if you have one). Some people want them to repurpose the chassis for art projects or something. If they don't,
    to the tip they go.

    Don't forget to wipe (or remove) the HDD before moving them on.

    Theo

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  • From =?UTF-8?Q?J=C3=B6rg_Lorenz?=@21:1/5 to Martin S Taylor on Thu Oct 10 11:28:51 2024
    On 10.10.24 10:42, Martin S Taylor wrote:

    A friend has two iMacs dating from 2008 which he has no use for. What's the best thing to do with them?

    Bring them back to Apple for environmental friendly disposal.
    Specialised recycling companies also exist.


    --
    "Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

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  • From Bruce@21:1/5 to Alan B on Fri Oct 11 00:43:41 2024
    On 10/10/2024 10:26, Alan B wrote:
    Martin S Taylor <[email protected]> wrote:

    A friend has two iMacs dating from 2008 which he has no use for.

    ...

    Failing that there are various Linux distributions which run quite
    well on old hardware. I’ve recently been experimenting within MX and
    Alpine on an old HP laptop.

    He could MATE them. ;-)

    --
    Bruce Horrocks
    Hampshire, England

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  • From Alan B@21:1/5 to Bruce on Fri Oct 11 09:58:19 2024
    Bruce <[email protected]> writes:

    On 10/10/2024 10:26, Alan B wrote:
    Martin S Taylor <[email protected]> wrote:
    A friend has two iMacs dating from 2008 which he has no use for.

    ...

    Failing that there are various Linux distributions which run quite
    well on old hardware. I’ve recently been experimenting within MX and
    Alpine on an old HP laptop.

    He could MATE them. ;-)

    Well if anyone succeeds in doing that I'll eat my RedHat ;-)

    --
    Cheers, Alan

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  • From Martin S Taylor@21:1/5 to Theo on Fri Oct 11 14:24:23 2024
    On 10 Oct 2024, Theo wrote
    (in article <a+f*[email protected]>):

    Don't forget to wipe (or remove) the HDD before moving them on.

    Bizarrely difficult to do that!

    I ran the computers in Target mode and connected them to my MacBook Pro using
    a chain of relevant adapters. Result: MacBook Pro crashes, consistently and repeatably as soon as the cable is connected. (I've reported this to Apple.)

    I tried booting them in Recovery Mode to wipe them using Disk Utility. They won't boot into Recovery Mode – the 'loading' thermometer creeps
    across the screen, than after an hour (literally) it registers complete, but then... nothing. Still just a thermometer registering complete after 24
    hours.

    But I can't thing there's anything on the HDD that anyone would find useful. The owner of the Macs is deceased, so all bank accounts are closed and
    there's no identity to steal. Is there any other danger? I'm sure the late owner, an author, would be flattered if anyone wanted to read any of his
    books.
    MST

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  • From Graham J@21:1/5 to Martin S Taylor on Fri Oct 11 16:29:32 2024
    Martin S Taylor wrote:
    On 10 Oct 2024, Theo wrote
    (in article <a+f*[email protected]>):

    Don't forget to wipe (or remove) the HDD before moving them on.

    Bizarrely difficult to do that!

    I ran the computers in Target mode and connected them to my MacBook Pro using a chain of relevant adapters. Result: MacBook Pro crashes, consistently and repeatably as soon as the cable is connected. (I've reported this to Apple.)

    I tried booting them in Recovery Mode to wipe them using Disk Utility. They won't boot into Recovery Mode – the 'loading' thermometer creeps across the screen, than after an hour (literally) it registers complete, but then... nothing. Still just a thermometer registering complete after 24 hours.

    But I can't thing there's anything on the HDD that anyone would find useful. The owner of the Macs is deceased, so all bank accounts are closed and there's no identity to steal. Is there any other danger? I'm sure the late owner, an author, would be flattered if anyone wanted to read any of his books.

    Take the HDD out, connect it (via a suitable dock) to a machine where
    you can run an erase utility.

    Or, give it to a small child with a screwdriver and get the child to
    take it apart and rub all the brown stuff off the disk platters.

    --
    Graham J

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  • From Another John@21:1/5 to Graham J on Tue Oct 15 15:58:09 2024
    On 11 Oct 2024 at 16:29:32 BST, "Graham J" <[email protected]> wrote:

    Take the HDD out, connect it (via a suitable dock) to a machine where
    you can run an erase utility.

    Or just take it out, place it on the wood-splitting block, and put a pickaxe through it. Two fun stages!

    John

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  • From Ant@21:1/5 to Another John on Wed Oct 16 02:31:33 2024
    Another John <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 11 Oct 2024 at 16:29:32 BST, "Graham J" <[email protected]> wrote:

    Take the HDD out, connect it (via a suitable dock) to a machine where
    you can run an erase utility.

    Or just take it out, place it on the wood-splitting block, and put a pickaxe through it. Two fun stages!

    That's a waste. I only do that if the HDD is broken or dead. Could still use a working old drive which is hard to find these days!
    --
    "But the Israelites said to the Lord, 'We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.' Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel's misery no longer." --Judges 10:15. We
    all need 2 do da same 2! Ow, hurty backy after a 8 hrs. hibernation with 1 pee break. :( Finally cooler weather & emptied bins. Need a new video card to play Microid's 2024 Empire of the Ants game.
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