How To Make Your Old, Slow Laptop Feel Like New Again. Just like the day you got it. How to Get Rid of Your Old Laptop. Its time to ditch the old laptop. You need more power, hate the wretched battery life, or just want to take advantage of all the features of the newest operating system. Dont trash it. That old laptop might be worth a few bucks. At the very least, it should be properly recycled. Caution even if you plan on just recycling your old laptop, make sure to effectively wipe clean all your data. This is explained below. I was tasked with getting rid of two reasonably capable laptops, though now starting to show their age the Dell XPS 1. Windows 8. 1, and the original Mac. Book Air. For both, the process was surprisingly easy provided you follow a few simple steps. MORE 1. 2 Computer Security Mistakes Youre Probably Making. Back Up. Cloud services are so prevalent these days that the process of backing up our files onto a physical hard drive now seems unnecessary. Wrong. Its always a good idea to have a physical backup. Youre in luck. Backup drives are incredibly affordable these days, and most are plug and play. A 2. TB Western Digital My Passport Ultra is just 8. Amazon. Or, you can get a 1. TB Toshiba drive from Best Buy for under 5. Something Linux based is your best bet. Ubuntu is an old standby that is now quite mature. Lightweight versions of Linux 13 Lightweight Linux Distributions to Give. WE BUY SELL TRADE USED LAPTOPS. Get the best salvage value of your old unit and use it towards whatever laptop you would want would be a good way to save on cost. The dell diagnostics were taking over an hour and still at the memory testing stage, so i aborted. I downloaded Speedfan and it did not detect my laptop fan. Just plug them into your laptops USB port and move your files. Before you get rid of that old laptop, backup all your files. De Authorize. This is the step that everyone seems to forget. Dont. i. Tunes, Adobe Creative Suite and others place limits on how many devices you can run their service on. Make sure to de authorize any services that place a limit on the number of computers your license supports. For example, Adobe products typically allow for their software to be installed on two computers home and office. To de activate, open the program, click on Help Deactivate Deactivate Permanently. Tunes is just as easy. Open up the application, click on Account Deauthorize This Computer. Done. Clean and Restore. You may be tempted to simply drag all your old files and folders into trash. Resist the temptation. Wipe that disk clean. Both the Windows 8. Mac OS X include utilities that let you delete your files and restore the machine to its original state. To Reset a Mac. As Apple notes, this will erase your hard drive and reinstall a copy of OS X, so do have a backup of your files. Make sure the machine is plugged in and you are connected to the Internet. Restart the Mac. 3. Hold down Command R as it boots. Select Reinstall Mac OS X from the menu that pops up. To Reset a Windows 8. Laptop. If you have a laptop running Windows 7, the process of deleting files and restoring the machine to its original state can be tricky. Worse, it may vary slightly from vendor to vendor. Dell has a handy guide. If this is too intimidating, at the very least, make sure you use a utility of application that erases all your data. If you have Windows 8. I do, the process is very straightforward. Swipe down from the right edge of your touchpad to reveal Settings. Click Change PC Settings. Click Update And Recovery at the bottom of the list. Click Recovery. You arent really trying to recover anything. Ignore Microsofts poor word choice. This reveals the Remove everything and reinstall Windows on the right side of the page. Click Get Started because you want to remove everything. Click Next when prompted to Reset Your PC. Select Just remove my files if you plan to give the computer to someone you trust because that process is much faster. If youre going to sell or recycle it, click Fully clean the drive, which takes a lot longer. According to Microsoft, this process deletes all your files and settings. However, if you want to wipe your hard drive data to government standards, you might want to try Active Kill. Disk, and Softpedia DP Wipe. Both are free. For the Mac, Paragons Disk Wiper is free, and also in compliance with government erasure standards. Sell. With your machine back to its original state, you can now list it on e. Bay or Craigslist. If those dont suit you, there are several other options. Amazons trade in site is great for selling unwanted i. Pads, if youre okay with receiving an Amazon gift card as payment. However, for most laptops its not a great option. While Amazon does offer meager sums for select Chromebooks, Mac. Books and Think. Pads, most laptops are not eligible for trade in. Like Amazon, Apple has a trade in program, even for select non Apple laptops. They also only pay out in gift cards. Apples program is run by an affiliate site, Power. On. I started with the Dell XPS 1. To check your laptops value, follow these steps. Select Notebook. 2. Select WindowsPC. Select the processor type. My Dell had an Intel Core i. GHz processor. 4. Is it working or non workingThe result Only 2. Seeking a better deal, I tried Dells Trade up Program. They sent me to a Microsoft site. Microsoft asks if your device is a phone, laptop or tablet. I specified a Dell XPS that powers up and with the screen in good condition. Finally, I got my quote a paltry 2. I think Id rather just recycle it. Recycle. Recycle your old laptop. Dont trash it. According to the EPA recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by more than 3,5. U. S. homes in a year. Plus, discarded electronics harm the land, water and air. Recycling is simple. Microsoft maintains a list of local recycling facilities for drop off. In addition, most Best Buys accept laptops for recycling. A final reminder Even if you recycle your laptop, be sure to clean your hard drive. Anna Attkisson, Laptop Mag Toms Guide Managing Editor. A lover of lists and deadlines, Anna Attkisson covers apps, social networking, tablets, chromebooks and accessories. She loves each of her devices equally, including the phablet, three tablets, three laptops and desktop. She joined the Laptop Mag staff in 2. Time Inc. Content Solutions where she created custom publications for companies from American Express to National Parks Foundation. Anna Attkisson, Laptop Mag Toms Guide Managing Editor.
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