Acquiring donated computer equipment - Technology

School Administrator, Dec, 2002 by Jim Lynch

Before you accept donated equipment for your school district, understand what computer equipment you need.

It is hard to turn down free computers. And you are likely to be offered more of them, due to the new 21st Century Classrooms Act for Private Technology Investment, which encourages large companies to donate computer equipment to public and private schools by offering tax incentives for these donations.

In most schools these days, computers don't operate on a standalone basis as they do in your home. They are connected to a network of some sort. Therefore donated computer equipment can only be of use to your school district if it fits well into your school's computer systems or networks and if it can run the applications you need it to run.

CompuMentor, a nonprofit organization that works with low-income schools on technology issues, has found that it is advantageous to place more recent computers (Pentium 300s and above) in administrative offices, while it's often appropriate to place older computers in training labs and classrooms. Anything below a Pentium 166 connects to the Internet too slowly.

Don't accept nonworking equipment unless you are certain your tech support team can repair it or that you want to use it in a training program geared toward fixing computers. Some of the best work and curriculum development around this is being done by the Students Recycling Used Technology programs in Portland, Ore. (www.strut.org).

Reputable Dealers

If you are unsure whether a donated computer is useful to you, refer donors to a refurbisher or recycler. Refurbishers usually handle newer equipment that they fix up for reuse. Recyclers accept older equipment, take out useful parts and break down the rest for recovery of materials. If you can't accept a computer equipment donation, provide people with alternatives to properly dispose of it. Find listings at TechSoup (www.rechsoup.org/recycle).

Whenever possible, seek donations from a reputable refurbisher. Rather than soliciting or accepting donations directly from individuals or businesses, it is often wise to apply to refurbishers for older equipment. This gives you a better chance of getting good equipment in working order. Share The Technology's online database (www.sharetechnology.org) matches donors with recipients by locale. Additional listings of refurbishers can be found at the TechSoup site.

If you accept a donation, try to get the software that goes with the donated computer. This is important because all computer software eventually corrupts. It is useful to have any original CDs or disks that came with the computer because they contain device drivers and technical manuals needed for fixing the machine. Software companies today are making it more of a priority to discover and prosecute software piracy-the use of unlicensed software. We encourage you to tighten your policies about systematic inventory of your computers, software, documentation and licenses to minimize your exposure to this liability.

Getting the disks and manuals is usually enough to make transfer of the software legal. This is certainly the case with Windows operating systems, one of the most important pieces of software. The manual usually contains the Certificate of Authenticity. Windows operating systems require a separate COA number for each computer. Your district probably has other software with site-licensing agreements in which you have permission to use the software on all computers in several schools.

Responsible Disposal

Remember the accessories. Don't forget about the keyboard, monitor, mouse, printer, modem or any other accessories that you'll need for the donated PC. Ask for any packaged software that donors might be willing to part with. An office suite such as MS Office or Lotus Smart-Suite is the most useful software.

Delete personal information. If the donor did not do this ahead of time, make sure that your technical people delete all Internet cookies, e-mail, personal applications, temporary Internet files, bookmarks, cache files and profile folder. This can be done using Norton Utilities WipeInfo or manually.

Dispose of your obsolete computers responsibly. Find listings of recyclers at the TechSoup site, the National Safety Council's Electronic Equipment Recyclers (www.nsc.org/ehc/epr2/recycler. HTM) or the Electronic Industries Alliance listing at www.eiae.org/.> Many schools also refurbish their older computers and have giveaway programs to their students as a regular part of their curriculum.

Jim Lynch is senior research manager of CompuMentor, 435 Brannan St., Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94107. E-mail: jlynch@compumentor.org