Disbanding desktp computers, what should I do with internals?

[cruiseroutfit]

I'm scrapping a couple of old desktop computer towers that I have had kicking around for 5+ years. Both are super old and I'm thinking the power supplies have failed in both as they were plugged in forever (monitors off) and now neither will power up. I'm not needing anything off of them besides the hard drives just in case there are old files/photos I need to hunt down (should be backed up).

What all should I remove to protect any data that may be on there? I've pulled the hard drives out of both but should I pull RAM or anything else before I drop them off at the thrift store?

 

[skeptic]

Nope, pull the drives and scrap the rest. I wouldn't even bother donating them. I did this myself a few months ago and decided laptops and mini-PCs are now at the point where I'll never own another desktop (replaced my home-built desktop with a Gigabyte brix). Even if you are going to get another desktop, you are not going to want anything other than the hard drives from 5+ year old desktops even as an emergency spare and for security or personal information only the drives matter.

 

[frieed]

About once every couple months, the office complex where I work has electronics recycling..