Donate your old computer; don't toss it

I'm always astounded by how quickly people discard computers.

There was a time when rapid software advances forced upgrades on a regular and almost frantic basis, but today the average machine is kept for only part of its useful life.

And the number of PCs I see sitting at curb-sides reminds me that when we do upgrade, we're all too likely to put toxic materials in our landfills and pose environmental problems.

What to do with old computers is the most common question I get. The answer is to find a place in your community that not only recycles PCs but extends their lives.

I spent some time at Raleigh's Purple Elephant recently. It's a nonprofit that accepts donated computers, refurbishes them, installs totally new software (after wiping their hard drives with software approved by the Department of Defense) and makes them available to people who might otherwise be unable to afford these tools. Children are the major beneficiaries.

Founder Dave Hinton is an inspiration. He's getting computers to needy students at rock-bottom prices and developing a team of talented volunteers.

But with 150 million computers now in landfills around the country, the environmental impact of rescuing older PCs is huge. Using figures from the Environmental Protection Agency, Hinton can show that the more than 6,000 PCs his organization has either restored or recycled have produced an environmental savings of over $1 million.

Every town needs an operation like the Purple Elephant. Find it on the Web at www.purpleelephant.org.

The Internet security problem doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Google is now saying that one in every 10 Web sites is infected by malware, meaning that casual visitors could be infected just by stopping in for a look. The right software can prevent that from happening.

But the other side of the security problem is that many Internet security packages compromise system performance. It's to the point where I've heard Windows users tell me they'll take their chances on the Net just to be free of processor-hogging protection.

A Symantec or McAfee user might get frustrated by the performance hit, but giving up all protection is not the answer.

Microsoft now offers a free software called Microsoft Security Essentials. It's out in a test version and headed for full release. MSE is to be a stripped-down security package comparable to the basic offerings from the big security vendors, going after software that steals passwords or takes control of a computer to make it into a hub for spam. Microsoft says it uses little PC horsepower and goes easy on system memory.

Is Microsoft taking a serious turn in the direction of freeing up computer resources? Windows 7, which will replace Vista, aims at being less intrusive and demanding on the processor. The new anti-virus seems to be in this mold, drawing on cloud computing to check suspicious files and checking for updates only when the PC is idle.

If free is what it takes to get large numbers of people to protect themselves, then MSE should find an audience. Until it's released, consider the free version of AVG ( free.avg.com) or the Avast anti-virus package ( www.avast.com).