You might want to double-check this, but I understand that Microsoft will no longer allow the XP downgrade after January 1! So if you have a really old computer that will run XP but not Vista (any of it’s 97,000 versions), you might want to do this soon!

beth can i hire you to do this to my laptop? can this be done with a laptop? mine is horrible. we never use it because it’s sick. it needs a clean start. and boyfriend wants to break down and buy a new one and i just dont want to do it. it just needs a fresh start and needs all it’s old crap deleted from it’s poor pathetic memory me thinks.
-marika

Oh, and I didn’t mean “you” necessarily…..but folks that might be reading you that don’t want to DIY on their computer. You obviously have the good computer karma in you.

Hi Beth,

I also have to post a ding for using your local “computer person” too. My husband owns a small business that uses a variety of refurbished equipment, and also does work for folks all the time for people and for offices.

If you aren’t a “computer” person, check around your local scene and find somebody that does work like this. You get to have your stuff worked on, or buy stuff used and refurbished which reduces waste, and it supports small business owners. An added plus is a big savings to your wallet.

Most work actually comes through word of mouth, so ask around or check Craigslist for a local person to help you. Shannon

Anonymous — this is just my point. Think of all the plastic and materials WASTED if we tossed our old computers and switched to Apple as you suggest. Do you see? That was the point of my post. Upgrading the software was no trouble for me. I enjoy working on computers. And the only physical material involved was the one CD-Rom and used to burn the downloaded software. Nearly zero-waste.

Save yourself the trouble…upgrade to a an Apple. Less plastic and and more ethical company.

Hi Beth, I love your articles. You are such an inspiration, and I have now sent your blog to my friend here in Sweden, who has agreed to fom an antiplastics group. Thank you!

I am posting this blog to bring awareness to the plastics industry of the potentials that lie in plastics recycling. Review of national trends toward waste recycling, alternative fuels and and alternate energy sources. I’ve recently jumped fence, so to speak..I have been working for a large Michigan firm as a process/ robotics engineer in the plastic injection industry. My interest was first ebbed by a “town hall meeting” chaired by Jennifer Granholm, Michigan’s governor. I must admit, I was pessimistic at first of the notion that Michigan could potentially make the conversion from automotive production to alternative production sources. I felt as though the state was grasping at straws due to a flailing economy. But the more research I have put into this hypothesis, the more I see the validity of its conception. The federal government has set goals to increase the amount of recyclable diversion to 35% nationally. The need for more recycling centers is immense, and it is clear to me that there is a new potential market emerging..recycled plastics. Currently, the profit margin is minimal… largely because of the instability of recycled material pricing and the cost of transportation. Virgin material costs remain stable due to the stability of production facilities, while recycling center production fluctuates. There is also a misconception that exists in the minds of consumers that recycled materials don’t possess the same quality capabilities. A movement towards educating the public as to the potentials of reusing plastic and moving them towards defining our industry’s need to develop an environmental mindset by what they purchase is dire…and the ending impact would make the utilization of recycled plasticsnot only desirable…but cost efficient as well. The technology exists to create efficient and profitable recycling operations of the plastics products we produce. By means of the technical leaders of our industry, we not only have the capability of making the notion of cost-effective recycling operations possible, but we have an industry-wide responsibility to the consumers of this nation to do so. I challenge all of you to see the importance of this for our children…for our children’s children..and ask that you make swift and active movements toward making this a viable and standard manufacturing mindset by using the same engineering capabilities we use in daily product production to develop recycling as an industrial revolution towards supporting the environment around us. I have personally removed myself from plastics production, and intend to focus over 23 years of industry experience on the development of Michigan’s current recycling failure. We as a state are currently near the bottom in regards to our efforts to reduce our production of waste. As a state, we currently only recycle 19% of our waste, in comparison to a 27% national average. We have been at the forefront of automotive manufacturing for decades. I challenge you to consider the potentials of this market, and begin to utilize our technical backgrounds for the “green initiatives” that have been outlined by Jennifer Granholm. We have every available resource needed to place ourselves at the forefront of our country’s effort to reduce waste. Anyone who has information on existing programs related to plastics recycling initiatives, or an interest in being involved…feel free to contact me via the website…

Mr Chiot’s loves to do this as well. Although now that we converted to all Mac’s it doesn’t really need done as often. We still do it every year or two. It’s like getting a new computer for a few hours work!!!

We always try to give away our old computers or make sure they go to a hazardous waste site where they’ll be properly disposed of.

My Mac Mini was getting slower and slower, enough for me to bring it to an Apple store where I was advised to re-install the hard drive. This I did, by myself and a sheet of instructions to guide me but because I didn’t know what I was doing, I removed all my documents and photos. I will tell you only the good things about this experience: My Mac runs like a race horse. Now I know how, when and why to re-install a hard drive and about backing up. I didn’t buy a new computer, which is what I assumed would have to happen. Next time I have a computer problem, I’ll post it on the Craig’s List computer forum and a dozen or more geeks will tell me what to do. There was no new plastic involved.

Beth, I forgot to mention that last night on PBS’ News Hour there was a very good segment on plastic, the Pacific Gyre, and plastic getting into the food chain.

Good going! I wiped my 5 year old laptop a few months ago because ti was running slowly. It felt really good! Plus I was able to get rid of a partition in the HD that I forgot was there. It’s like a new machine now. Sooooo much better (and cheaper) than buying a new laptop.

It’s sad that we use computer technology so much and yet so many of us are afraid of it or don’t know enough about it to do a simple upgrade or repair to fix problems like speed and memory (I upgraded my RAM at the same time which was also super easy). I thin this is one of the main reasons we (as a society) tend to just dump the old machines and buy new ones.

Yesterday was computer day for me too, but it sure didn’t feel rewarding most of the time. My work computer was having internet issues and then got all hinky after XP service pack three came to visit — but an hour and a half on line chat with me on the downstairs office computer which had internet and my partner (domestic Por that is, who came into the office just to help me) on the upstair computer and us communicating via speaker phone got everything fixed.
I will say, fingers crossed, that we’ve had a lot less trouble running XP than any earlier Windows, it’s been a very stable platform (and we won’t ever be upgrading to Vista because we need to be able to use the DOS interface).

Good job, Beth! That is a pain in the butt to do. Do you know a place to find good directions for wiping and reinstalling? I know a lot of my coworkers & customers have bought new hardware instead of dealing with software issues.