Academic Technology & Networks :: Computer Donations

The MISD Academic Technology & Networks department (ATN) is a member of the Microsoft’s Fresh Start for Donated Computers program. This program provides licensing and Windows installation CDs—at no cost— for schools that have received donations of personal computers with Pentium II or older processors. The program offers both Windows 98 and Windows 2000. A school can choose the version that best matches the functionality of the donated personal computer and the technology environment and standards of the school.

What are the Benefits

Personal computer donations can assist in giving MISD teachers and students access to modern learning tools. With minimal effort, MISD schools can take advantage of this no-cost solution and receive proper documentation for Windows operating systems, and the installation CDs for donated computers.

What computers qualify?

• Personal computers must be received as a donation.
• Personal computers must be previously used.
• Personal computers, to the best of your knowledge, must have had an original Windows operating system previously installed.
• Only personal computers with Intel Pentium III (or equivalent) and older processors are eligible for this program.
• The school must retain ownership of the personal computers licensed through this program and cannot transfer its Windows operating system license to students or other external organizations.

How do I participate?

To make a computer donate to Mansfield ISD or a specific campus,

contact the ATN Department @ (817) 299.1980 or
contact the campus directly to make an appointment to drop off the donation.
Upon delivery, you will be required to fill out a Computer Donation Form. Sample Form

We "Thank You" in advance for your donation and support to Mansfield ISD.

Tips on Cleaning a computer before Donating

If you clean your computer of personal information yourself, it's best to use some disk cleaning software to delete your Internet browser's cache, cookies, history, your e-mail contacts and messages, your documents, your recycle or trash folder, and non-transferable software. The best thing to do is to use a disk cleaning utility that overwrites data so that is unrecoverable.

Here are some examples of disk cleaning utilities:

Commercial Windows Disk Cleaning Software
Wipe Info feature in Norton Utilities and System Works
Paragon Disk Wiper
Webroot Window Washer
Tracks Eraser Pro
Wipedrive

Freeware Windows Disk Cleaning Software (all available at Shareware.com)
Eraser
Active@ Kill Disk: Hard Drive Eraser
Disk Cleaner
Sure Delete
BCWipe (shareware)

Macintosh Disk Cleaning Software
Wipe Info feature in Norton Utilities (using this, you can delete single documents and files)
iClean
SuperScrubber

If the PC is still under a manufacturer's warranty, you can call the company's technical services and ask for specifics on how to delete personal files.