Every house has one. The old laptop in the closet, the desktop in the garage, the external drive in a desk drawer. Nobody will recycle it, donate it or throw it away, because “my stuff is on it.” The stuff is the only reason it's still there. So a few times a year we set aside a day at our office in St. Petersburg, take the drive out, and crush it, free, in front of you.

The Short Version

Sign up, come at the time we send you, and bring the computer or the bare drive. We pull the drive and crush it while you watch. No charge. It’s by appointment only, at our office in St. Petersburg: there’s no walk-in counter. Most people need nothing more than that; if you want a certificate (a business that has to document disposal, an insurer that asks), say so and we’ll write one with the serial number, the date and the method. The next date is announced on this page, in the newsletter and on our Google listing; sign up below and you get a time first.

How It Works

Need a Certificate? Ask

Most people don’t; a crushed drive is its own proof. A business that has to document disposal does: insurers, the FTC Safeguards Rule and HIPAA all want a record of what was destroyed, when, how and by whom. Say so at the table and the technician writes one on the spot, with your name, the device, the drive’s serial number, the date and the method, signed. Keep it with your asset list.

Bring, and Don't Bring

• Come at your time. Visits are by appointment only, with no walk-in counter. If the time we send doesn’t work, reply to the email and we’ll find another.
• Bring the whole computer or just the drive. A screwdriver is not required; we have those. The power adapter only matters for a Mac, Chromebook or tablet, which gets erased rather than opened.
• Bring your sign-in for a Mac, Chromebook or tablet, so it can be signed out of the Apple or Google account before the erase. Otherwise the next owner gets a brick.
• Don't bring a machine you still need something from. Say so first and we'll talk about what's on it before anything is crushed.
• A dead drive is fine. The crusher doesn't care whether it spins. If there's something on it you want, say so before it goes in: recovery is a service job, and it can't follow a crush.

For Businesses

A few retired machines are welcome on the day, certificates included if you ask; say how many when you sign up so we can give you a longer slot. For a stack of computers, a server, or anything that needs an asset list and a certificate for every drive, book the secure destruction service instead: same records, done on a scheduled visit, with the paperwork an insurer or auditor expects. The offboarding checklist covers where that record lives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it free?

Because the alternative is worse for everyone. Old computers sit in closets for years because the owner is afraid of what's on them, and then they end up at a thrift store or the curb with everything still on the drive. A morning of our time keeps a few dozen drives full of tax returns and family photos out of that pile, and the people who come tend to remember who helped.

Where is it?

At our office in St. Petersburg, by appointment only. There's no walk-in counter, so sign up and we'll email you a time and directions when the date is set. If you can't get to us, we destroy or wipe drives on any service visit, certificate included.

Why crush it instead of wiping it?

Time and certainty. A software wipe of an old spinning drive takes an hour or more per drive, so a table that wipes gets through a handful in a morning. A crush takes seconds, works on a drive that no longer spins, and you can see the result. If you'd rather keep the drive usable, to donate the machine as it is, the recycling guide shows how to wipe it yourself, or we wipe it on a service visit.

Can you get my photos off it first?

Say so before we start. If the machine boots and the files are small, copying a folder to your own USB stick while you're here is fine. A real recovery, from a drive that's failing or a machine that won't start, is a service job, and we'll tell you what it would involve. Nothing comes back from a crushed drive, so this is the moment to ask.

Do I get a certificate?

If you want one. Most people don't need it: a crushed drive is its own proof. A business that has to document disposal does, because insurers, the FTC Safeguards Rule and HIPAA all want a record of what was destroyed, when, how and by whom. Say so at the table and the technician writes one on the spot, with your name, the device, the drive's serial number, the date and the method, signed.

What about Macs, Chromebooks, tablets and phones?

Recent Macs, Chromebooks and tablets have the storage soldered to the board, so there is no drive to pull. They get the maker's built-in erase instead, which destroys the encryption key and takes minutes, once you've signed out of the account that locks them. Bring the power adapter. Phones you can do yourself: a factory reset on any recent iPhone or Android wipes it, because the storage is already encrypted. We'll show you where the setting is and which account to sign out of first.

Do you take the computer for recycling?

We're not a recycler, so no. We tell you where it goes: Pinellas and Hillsborough both accept electronics at their household hazardous waste sites, most electronics retailers take old computers, and a refurbisher can put a new drive in a machine that still works. The crushed drive is scrap metal; the same drop-offs take it.

Can my business bring a stack of old computers?

A few are fine on the day, certificates included if you ask; say how many when you sign up. For a stack, a server, or anything that needs an asset list and a certificate per drive for an insurer or the FTC Safeguards Rule, that's the secure destruction service, done on a scheduled visit with the paperwork your auditor wants.

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