Tech Table Monday, April 21, 2014
April 21, 2014
Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I’m Diana.
Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise it’ll be easy to digest. Monday!
Justin: It is a Monday. You know, if any of our listeners out there have been thinking, in the last several days, if Justin’s talking weird, it’s because I have a huge sore inside my mouth that’s causing me all sorts of problems. And so, you know, I’m not on any medications or anything of that sort, any illegal substances.
Diana: Oh, my.
Justin: So, if I sound a little funky.
Diana: I don’t think they were thinking that.
Justin: Yeah, my mom probably was. No, someone told me the other day, like, “I thought you were talking very strange.” I’m like, great. But you know how you get those sores right beside your tongue. It hurts.
Diana: Yeah.
Justin: Unpleasant stuff. Yeah, so anyway, if I’ve been speaking strangely, that’s why. I just want to clarify that.
Diana: Thank you.
Justin: No problem. I didn’t want to get hate mail or something, or the station to get anything, you know.
Diana: That’s true. Speaking of mail, today is Mail Monday.
Justin: Mail! It is Mail Monday, and you can send questions to…
Diana: questions@askmpa.com
Justin: That’s right, and today, Janice asks, “I understand Windows XP is gone.” And it’s true. It is unsupported, anyway. And she says, “I’m okay with that. Now that I have replaced my computer with a new one…” Well, that’s good, Janice. Kudos to you. “What do I do with the old one? And also, how do I make sure any data and information I have on that computer is destroyed?”
Diana: Very good questions. Very relevant, too.
Justin: Yeah, absolutely, it’s a great question. So, you know, the first thing to mention is in most cases, older XP machines do not typically have much monetary value, so you’re not going to expect to sell them or trade them in. You’re pretty much just going to have to dispose of them. So, you can dispose of them safely and in a green manner, you know, earth-friendly.
Diana: Yes, yes.
Justin: By taking it to, you know, a lot of technology, computer businesses have free disposal services.
Diana: Right.
Justin: And in some metropolitan areas, they actually have businesses that only do technology disposal.
Diana: Amazing. Of course, some people opt for the sit it out on the curb option.
Justin: Yeah, which in that case, people will steal all of your information.
Diana: Yes, so not the best option.
Justin: Right. Exactly.
Diana: Not one we typically recommend.
Justin: No, do not leave your old technology sitting on the curb.
Diana: But I do know some people who have picked up computers on the roadside and I mean, just used it for, they were able to use it and fix it up.
Justin: Yeah, well, that’s true.
Diana: And they weren’t being…
Justin: Malicious.
Diana: Yes. They were not being malicious with it. They just literally said, hey, free computer!
Justin: But obviously, you do have information, sensitive data. You know, back in the day, we didn’t really store sensitive data that much on computers.
Diana: Right.
Justin: But, you know, in the last 10, 15 years now it’s become really relevant to obviously do all your banking and you keep all sorts of stuff on your computer.
Diana: Everything.
Justin: So, Janice, you know, you’re very smart in asking, how do I make sure this information is gone? So, you know, you yourself can format the drive before you bring it into a store to be disposed of, which you know, if you know how to format the drive, that’s fine. Basically, it just means reformatting it, erasing it. You can remove the hard drive, literally, take out the hard drive yourself and, you know, you can keep it or dispose of it. It’s not big. It’s something you can get rid of yourself or you can keep it in a locked place if you really want to.
Diana: Yeah, yeah.
Justin: I know some people who do that.
Diana: And what we’ll do is, or most technology companies, will remove the hard drive and oftentimes, physically destroy it.
Justin: Yeah, exactly.
Diana: Just get rid of it because once it’s broken, it’s done.
Justin: Yeah, most hard drives have a spinning glass disc inside them. So, sometimes even if you accidentally drop the hard drive, it’ll shatter the disc, and it’s all inaccessible at that point.
Diana: Yeah.
Justin: So, it is easy to destroy them.
Diana: Yes.
Justin: So, just do those things but if you take it to a reputable computer repair business or some place that deals with disposal, they’ll make sure that that information is disposed of properly.
Diana: Yeah, they will.
Justin: So, send us your questions.
Diana: questions@askmpa.com
Justin: That’s right. Until next time.
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at AskMPA.com.
Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: And thanks for listening.
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