How to dispose of old laptop

[Misty9]

I have an ancient old laptop with Windows Vista but I've lost the system restore disk - so how can I safely dispose of it or, preferably, get it to a state where I can donate it? I can't even get it to update and access the internet currently so downloading software might be tricky...

I've transferred/deleted all my files already.

Can you get into it in emergency boot mode. If you can then put Linux on a USB stick, change to boot from Linux on USB and format the system disk.

Failing that apply a hammer

Have you tried an ethernet cable, in case there's a problem with the laptop accessing wifi? If you could get online, you could try updating it to start with.

Do you have a system restore save point, to restore the system to? If you could update it to windows 10, and update any servers or anything else that needs updated (latest version of flash etc), it could still be fine to use. A good test would be to run youtube, netflix or similar, and see how it copes with streamed video.

Or, if you put it on gumtree, said it's free to anyone willing to fix it, I'm sure someone would be glad of the chance to at least try to make it functional, or who could use it for parts.

Also, if wifi previously worked, have you changed passwords or providers since then? If you haven't already, log out or disconnect, then back in, using the new details. If you have two wifi choices, one with 2g and one with 5g in the name, 5g won't work with a lot of old devices, so pick the one with 2g.

Hi. Wi-Fi was working but all security certificates were out of date so it wasn't letting me access web pages. It didn't have a system restore point annoyingly.

But I have now installed linux on it thus wiping the disk, as pp suggested. I don't think it's a fit state to be donated as it only works plugged in (battery had to be removed ages ago) so is it worth putting it on gumtree?

You could stick it on for a few days, and if no one wants it, do you have a dump near by? They should take (and correctly dispose of) any old electronics, or your council website should give you an idea where to take it.