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Donate a Laptop to Boot Up

Thank you for considering a donation. Boot Up refurbishes donated computers, rebuilds them on free open-source software, and awards them to people completing our digital-skills course. Your old laptop can become someone's first computer.

Your privacy comes first. This page shows you how to make sure none of your personal information ever reaches us in a readable form. Pick whichever option below is most comfortable — they're all safe.

Protect your data — choose one

Option 1 — Keep your drive (easiest and safest)

The drive is the small part inside the laptop that stores your files. If you remove it (or just don't include it), your data physically never leaves your hands. We'll install a fresh drive ourselves.

  • Many laptops have a small panel on the bottom held by a few screws — the drive is usually a flat metal/plastic rectangle or a small stick. Take it out and keep it.
  • Not comfortable opening the laptop? No problem — choose Option 2 or bring it to a drop-off (Option 3) and we'll handle it with you watching.
  • Some thin/newer laptops have the storage soldered in and it can't be removed. If yours has no removable drive, use Option 2 or 3.

You don't have to know what kind of drive you have. If in doubt, just ask us, or use a drop-off.

Option 2 — Wipe it yourself with our USB stick (optional)

If you'd rather erase the laptop before sending it, we can give or mail you a wipe stick. You start the laptop from the stick and it erases everything on the drive.

  1. Back up anything you want to keep first — this cannot be undone.
  2. Plug the wipe stick into a USB port.
  3. Turn the laptop on and immediately tap the boot-menu key — usually F12, Esc, F2, or F10 (it's often shown briefly on screen).
  4. Choose the USB stick from the menu.
  5. Follow the on-screen prompts to erase the internal drive, then wait for it to finish.

⚠️ Please read: this erases the whole drive permanently. Only do this to the laptop you're donating. If it asks which disk to erase, pick the internal drive — and if you're unsure, stop and bring it to a drop-off. If you get stuck at a setup or boot screen, that's okay — just bring it in and we'll finish it with you.

Option 3 — Bring it to a drop-off or wipe event

Bring the laptop to one of our partner sites. We'll wipe it on the spot while you watch and give you a certificate confirming your data was destroyed. This is the easiest option if you'd rather not open or boot the laptop yourself.

What we can use

[HYPOTHESIS] Draft acceptance guidance — confirm current criteria with the team.

Great to receive:

  • Laptops roughly from the last ~10 years (64-bit, about 4 GB of memory or more).
  • The charger/power cord, if you still have it — these are often what's missing and costly to replace.
  • Spare memory (RAM) or drives, if any.

We don't need: your Windows or Microsoft Office licenses, or your old files — we install fresh free software.

Even if it doesn't work: we may still use it for parts, and we recycle responsibly what we can't use. When in doubt, ask.

What happens to your laptop

  1. We verify and wipe the drive again at intake (a second safety step, regardless of what you did).
  2. We test, repair, and rebuild it on Ubuntu Linux (free, secure, open-source).
  3. We award it to a graduate of our 8-module digital-skills curriculum, delivered with local makerspaces, recovery houses, and libraries.

Receipts: ask us for a donation acknowledgment and a copy of your data-wipe certificate. [HYPOTHESIS] Tax-deductibility depends on Big Nerd Idea Foundation's nonprofit status, which is still being finalized — ask us where that stands when you donate.

Donor quick checklist

  • [ ] Back up anything you want to keep
  • [ ] Sign out of your accounts (optional, but tidy)
  • [ ] Choose your data option: keep the drive, wipe with the USB stick, or drop-off
  • [ ] Include the charger if you have it
  • [ ] We'll provide a short donation form when you hand it over

Questions? Email kevin@bignerdidea.org.

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For Boot Up intake volunteers (internal)

A donor's self-wipe is a courtesy, not the system of record — Boot Up always performs a verified, certified wipe at intake, because we can't validate what happened on someone else's kitchen table. Full method detail: Data Sanitization & Wipe Certificate.

Intake checklist (per device):

  1. Log donor name, date, source, and make / model / serial.
  2. Identify the drive: none / HDD / SATA SSD / NVMe / soldered.
  3. Wipe or verify-wipe by media type (see the sanitization guide):
    • HDD → nwipe, single pass + verify
    • SATA SSD → ATA Secure Erase (hdparm; unfreeze with sleep/replug if needed)
    • NVMe → nvme format --ses=1 or nvme sanitize
    • Self-encrypting (Opal/SED) → cryptographic erase
  4. Generate the wipe certificate; record its ID against the unit.
  5. Triage against the minimum spec; route culls to responsible e-waste.
  6. Asset-tag and enter to inventory: source, intake date, wipe method + cert ID, parts needed, cost.
  7. Offer the donor a donation acknowledgment and a copy of the wipe certificate.

[EXPERT REVIEWED] needed: the donation/transfer form (attorney) and any health-sourced device (HIPAA). Minimum-spec and acceptance criteria above are [HYPOTHESIS] until set by the team.